Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star
by Mockingbird79
Summary: Tali's childhood crush joins Shepard's crew! He has recently returned from his Pilgrimage a hero to the fleet, but he has changed since he left. His dark past leaves Tali wondering: Do I have any chance? Begins during Tali's loyalty in ME2. Fem. Shep
1. Chapter 1: Treason

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Ch. 1: Treason**

Shepard and Tali stood at the bridge of the Normandy on either side of Joker's chair. Outside of the cockpit window they could see the Migrant Fleet growing in size as they approached.

"There's so many of them!" said Shepard through her N7 helmet, as she leaned against a chair to get a better view of the Migrant Fleet.

"Yep, it's good to be home," said Tali with audible happiness in her voice, despite the fact that they were there because Tali had been accused of treason against the Migrant Fleet. "EDI, please open up a secure channel with the Rayya."

"Very well Miss Zorah," responded EDI as her holographic image appeared on the small pedestal near Joker's chair.

"This is Tali' Zorah vas Neema requesting permission to dock with the Rayya," said Tali loudly as she paced back and forth behind Joker with her arms crossed.

A response came from the communications terminal, "Our systems have your ship flagged as Cerberus. Verify."

Tali stopped pacing and faced forward, "After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began."

"Permission granted," Said the quarian traffic controller, "Welcome home Tali' Zorah."

As they approached the Rayya, Tali glimpsed a flash of blue light from behind the ship, Tali assumed it was the star that the Migrant Fleet drifted around and dismissed it.

"We'd like a security and quarantine team to meet us, our ship is not clean," said Tali as they approached the Rayya.

"Understood, approach exterior docking cradle 17," instructed the traffic controller as they pulled up next to the Rayya.

Tali felt the ship rumble as they docking cradle connected with the Normandy and she followed Shepard into the airlock with Garrus to enter the Rayya.

* * *

><p><strong>Inside the Rayya<strong>

Tali stepped out of the Normandy and into the noisy interior of the Rayya, the captain of the Rayya himself approached, accompanied by a couple of armed guards, who didn't seem like they had any intention of using their weapons.

"Captain Shepard," greeted Captain Kar' Danna, "Tali' Zorah told me a lot about you. I wish we could be meeting under more pleasant circumstances."

"Tali helped the Normandy's crew out of many difficult situations, I'm here to return the favor," said Shepard.

Kar' Danna nodded, "I understand. As the commander of the vessel she serves on, your voice carries weight." He turned to Tali, who stood on the left of Shepard, "I wish I could do more to help, Tali. The trial requires that I remain officially neutral, but… I'm here if you need to talk." Kar' Danna sighed, "They're charging you with bringing active geth into the fleet as part of a secret project."

Tali stepped forward and took on an accusatory pose, "That's insane! I never brought active geth aboard. I only sent parts and pieces."

Shepard couldn't hide her surprise, "You sent geth material back to the Migrant Fleet."

Tali looked taken aback by Shepard's accusations, Tali explained, "Yes. My father was working on a project. He needed the materials."

Kar' Danna shook his head, and chose to get back to business, "Technically, I'm under orders to place Tali' Zorah under arrest pending the hearing," said Kar' Danna with a firm tone, his tone then turned warm, "So, Tali… You are confined to this ship until this trial is over."

Tali exhaled and relaxed, she had become tense when the captain mentioned placing her under arrest, but she was happy to hear that she was to be confined to the ship rather than a cell, "Thank you, Captain."

Kar' Danna turned back to Shepard, "Preparations got underway as soon as you arrived. The hearing is being held in the garden plaza, good luck."

Kar stepped to the side to let the group pass, but he stepped in front of Shepard again before she took two steps.

"Sorry, but I am under strict orders to only allow Tali and her captain into the hearing, your friend will have to stay in your ship," said Kar' Danna gesturing toward Garrus.

Shepard looked back at Garrus who turned his helmeted head toward her. They stared at each other for a second, neither wanting to separate from each other, but Shepard finally nodded at Garrus, who nodded back and turned around toward the Normandy.

* * *

><p><strong>Later in the Garden Plaza<strong>

Tali stood in front of the admirals in the garden plaza, her jaw was open in shock and fear, Admiral Koris had just told her that geth had seized the lab ship that her father had worked on.

"What are you talking about!" demanded Tali, fear and emotion in her voice.

Admiral Gerral stepped forward and shook his head at Koris before turning to Tali.

Gerral said very gently, "As far as we can tell Tali, the geth have killed everyone on the Alarei… your father included."

"What? Oh, Keelah…" whimpered Tali weakly, she held her head in her hands and tears fell off her face onto the inside of her mask.

"It is a real shame," said Koris.

Tali looked up at Koris; anger building inside of her, "How dare you?" shouted Tali, "You never liked him, you never cared!"

"No, you misunderstand," said Koris, "Quaero' Vega was on the Alarei as well."

Tali felt her heart skip a beat at the sound of the name and her jaw had fallen lower than it had earlier.

"Quaero was on the Alarei?" shouted Tali as she stepped up to the defendant's podium.

"Who's Quaero' Vega?" asked Shepard, confused.

Tali looked back at Shepard; she had forgotten that Shepard was there, "He… He was a childhood friend, I'll tell you about him later."

"Yes, I am afraid he chose to join the Alarei after he had returned from his Pilgrimage," said Koris, shaking his head sadly, "He was the future for the Quarian people; he brought us the greatest gift that we could have ever asked for."

"What did he bring?" asked Shepard.

"He brought a ship that produces a powerful and massive kinetic barrier that expands around the entire Migrant Fleet," said Shala' Raan, who had been presiding over the hearing, solemnly, "It can withstand numerous blasts from dreadnought class starships, it provides superb protection from attacks, and it will be a great asset for the Quarian people."

"It is a great shame that he should leave us so soon after returning from his Pilgrimage," said Gerral sadly.

"You don't know that he is dead! Nor my father!" shouted Tali pointing a threatening finger at Gerral.

Shepard composed herself and stepped up forward. "I appreciate the need for this trial Admirals, but right now our first concern must be the safety of the Migrant Fleet," she said to the Admirals who nodded their heads in agreement, she added "The Normandy stands ready to assist in whatever capacity necessary."

"Thank you," said Raan, "Quarian strike teams have attempted to take back the ship, so far, without success."

Tali turned to Shepard and quickly said "Shepard, we have to take back the Alarei!"

Koris spoke up, "The safest course would be to simply destroy the ship. But if you're looking for an honorable death instead of exile…" Koris adapted a snarky emphasis on the words "honorable" and "death"

Tali's anger towards Koris surged again, "I'm looking for my father you bosh'tet!"

"You intend to retake the Alarei from the geth?" Raan could not hold back the concern in her voice, "This proposal is extremely dangerous."

"With you permission, Admirals, yes. The good of the Fleet must come first…" Shepard paused and looked at Tali who returned her gaze, "and Tali needs to find her father."

Gerral spoke immediately, before Koris or any other Admirals could object to this, "Agreed. And if you die on this worthy mission, Tali, we will see that your name is cleared of these charges."

Koris looked over at Gerral and said with contempt in his voice, "We can discuss that later."

"Then it is decided," said Raan, "You will attempt to retake the Alarei. You are hereby give leave to depart the Rayya. A shuttle will be waiting at the secondary docking hanger." Raan paused for a moment and locked eyes with Tali, "Be safe Tali. This hearing will resume upon your return, or upon determination that you have been killed in action."

Shepard and Tali turned away from the Admirals and walked across the garden plaza to the secondary docking hanger.

* * *

><p><strong>Later on Route to the Alarei<strong>

Tali sat across from Shepard and stared out the window of the shuttle. She watched as the Rayya began to shrink as they moved away from it. She then caught a glimpse of the bright blue light that she saw in the Normandy before docking with the Rayya.

There was a ship in the center of the triangle formation that the three Quarian live ships made, it was a massive vessel, about half the size of a live ship, but still huge. It composed mostly of a huge spherical shield generator that was made of a very dark metal and was covered in large nodes, similar to the walls inside the drive core room, but Tali knew that these were basically giant kinetic shield barriers. There was a large cone-like ship that was tiny compared to the generator but was still connected by a very thick access tube. The ship had four wings that were on the top, bottom, and both sides of the ship, each with a large thruster engine at the end. The bright blue light, similar to the light a mass relay made emanated from each node, it traveled outward for a bit, before disapating.

Tali had never seen anything like this before, it was original in its design, and was most likely the only one of its kind. Tali realized that this must be the ship that Quaero' Vega had given to the Migrant Fleet for his Pilgrimage. Tali could just barely make out the name painted on its side: Nidus

"Home," Tali translated out loud.

"What?" asked Shepard who moved to the window with Tali.

"That's the ship that Quaero gave to the Migrant Fleet I think," mumbled Tali, her attention still locked upon the Nidus.

"Who is Quaero?" asked Shepard, she was curious about this quarian, "You said in your trial that he was a friend of yours."

Tali tore her eyes away from the window and sat down again to look at Shepard as she spoke, "Yes, he was my best friend when I was a growing up, he was a few years older than I was so he went on his pilgrimage a little sooner than I did."

Tali was wringing her hands together in her lap and looking them as she spoke, Shepard knew her friend well, and she knew that this conversation was making Tali uncomfortable, but Shepard's girlish instinct had kicked in, and she couldn't help herself, Shepard smiled "So you two were close?"

"What? No! I mean we were good friends, but we weren't close! Wait no! We were close but not in that way! I mean I always liked him but I was young I was only 15 when he left," said Tali quickly and nervously, but she slowed down and became sadder around the end.

"So you missed him a lot," said Shepard, feeling sorry for her friend.

"Yes, when he left that was the saddest day of my life," said Tali, she looked up at Shepard who was giving her the evil eye, "Oh! I mean until you died Shepard! Keelah I am bad at this."

"Calm down Tali," said Shepard laughing maniacally, "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, and don't worry we'll find him and your father in the Alarei."

Shepard leaned forward and placed a hand on Tali's shoulder, Tali looked up and smiled at Shepard at through her mask.

Suddenly the suddenly the shuttle slowed then shook as it docked with the Alarei. Tali stood and drew her shotgun from her lower back, Shepard pulled the Revenant machine gun from her back, they both stood at the door waiting for decontamination to finish. The doors opened and Shepard looked at Tali who looked back, they both nodded to each other at the same time and stepped out of the shuttle.


	2. Chapter 2: Giant in the Suit

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Author's Note: Glad to see some people like my story. Just FYI, Quaero's name is pronounced like Koro, but if you like you can add a little quarian flare to it, go ahead ;D. Just helping you guys out cause his name is a little weird. I won't talk much anymore, so as not to bother you lovely readers.**

**Ch. 2: The Giant in the Suit**

Tali and Shepard stepped into the first room of the Alarei only to be immediately shot at by geth troopers. The room was large and filled with containers and boxes, so there was plenty of cover for Shepard and Tali.

Shepard slid into a crouch accompanied by Tali behind the nearest crate while geth assault rifle fire whizzed over their heads and pinged against their cover. Shepard blind fired over the boxes in the general direction of the geth, hoping to get a momentary reprieve from the merciless gunshots. The geth attack slowed and Shepard and Tali popped out of cover to return fire.

Shepard sprayed the geth in light bursts with her Revenant machine gun while Tali blasted them with her Canifex hand cannon, she was still too far away for her shotgun to be very effective.

A few geth dropped dead, white coolant spraying from their bodies before they fell to the floor. Only two geth remained, Shepard kept them behind their cover by shooting a long lasting torrent with her machine gun while Tali was ducked behind cover, typing hacking algorithms into her omni-tool.

Suddenly Shepard saw the door on the far end of the room open and for a time nobody entered, then a three more geth troopers entered the room and fired at Shepard, a few bullets struck her kinetic barrier, so she dropped behind cover.

"Tali, hurry we've got reinforcements!" Shepard yelled over the gunfire.

"Almost done Shepard!"

Suddenly Tali's holographic omni-tool interface disappeared and she pulled out her shotgun, she nodded at Shepard who peeked over her cover.

Shepard saw a geth whose blue eye had turned bright red, and was firing at his former allies, who died quickly. Suddenly it turned towards Shepard and Tali's cover and fired towards the left of the boxes.

Shepard dropped down behind cover again and looked over to where the geth was shooting. There was a hazy rippling in the air next to their cover with a disembodied geth eye light staring at Tali. Shepard realized it was a cloaked geth hunter. The hunter got struck with a few shots from the hacked geth and it turned and shot the hacked geth dead.

Tali heard the shot from the hunter and turned her head in its direction, she realized what stood in front of her and she raised her shotgun and fired two rounds into its glowing eye.

White coolant few from an unseen source and was soon followed by a loud thump. The geth hunter's cloaking device powered down and revealed a tall geth hunter without a head.

Tali and Shepard stood and briskly walked out of the room.

* * *

><p><strong>Later <strong>

Shepard quickly pressed the off button on the terminal. They had just been forced to watch a mother tell her child how much she loves them and then get blasted away by a torrent of geth assault rifle fire.

Tali shook her head sadly and Shepard took a deep breath. Even after over ten years of fighting, it never got any easier for Shepard to see things like that, and she couldn't even imagine what Tali was going through.

Shepard put a reassuring hand on Tali's shoulder. Tali looked up at Shepard and nodded. Ever since the Normandy SR-1 there has been an unspoken communication between Tali, Shepard, and Garrus. They were all good friends and Tali counted the two of them as her best friends.

Tali straightened herself and readied her shotgun.

* * *

><p><strong>Later<strong>

Tali stepped up to a small orange wall console on the wall.

"This console might have something," Tali began to type on the console, "Most of the data is corrupted but a few bits are left."

Tali typed on her omni-tool for a few seconds, then she turned to Shepard, "They were performing experiments on geth systems, looking for new ways to overcome geth resistance to reprogramming."

"Could any of that data clear your name?"

"Doubtful," Tali sighed, "This is mostly results data. Effects of different disruptive hacking techniques, I don't understand all of it."

Tali stepped up to the console again and began typing, "But… they may have been activating the geth deliberately, I don't know. Nothing here says specifically. But if they were… then Father was doing something terrible."

Tali punched the console with a three fingered hand, "What was all this, Father? You promised to build me a house on the homeworld. Was this going to bring us back home?"

Shepard hesitated then said, "Maybe… it's time for your people to… let go of reclaiming your world from the geth." Shepard couldn't believe she was agreeing with Koris' views.

Tali turned her head sharply at Shepard, she approached her slowly and threateningly her glowing silver eyes thin with anger, "You have no idea what it's like!" Tali yelled into Shepard's helmeted face, "You have a planet to go back to! My home is one hull breach away from extinction!"

Shepard could see that she had touched a sensitive subject, "I'm sorry Tali, but don't you think it would be better to colonize a new world."

Tali stepped away in frustration, "That would take too long for my people to acclimatize to. If we retake our homeworld, we can adapt faster than on another planet, it's the difference between 500 years and 50 years."

Tali sighed, "At least we can take back one ship, come on."

* * *

><p><strong>Later<strong>

Tali shot the last geth as it tried to flank them by going up the stairwell. Its insides became visible after a blast of her shotgun, then it fell to the ground, a small pool of white coolant spreading around it.

Shepard walked down the stairs and walked through the doorway to a corridor with a stairway that led to the bridge, at the foot of the stairs was a dead Quarian lying on his back. A trail of blood led from the top of the stairs, Shepard assumed he was trying to escape the bridge and was shot and fell down the stairs. Red blood was splattered around his body, and he had numerous bullet holes in him. His red suit was darkened by yet more blood and the inside of his mask, which was cracked, had a splatter of blood in it.

Shepard was staring at the dead Quarian, when Tali pushed past her and yelled in fear, "Father!"

Shepard looked from the dead Quarian to Tali then back again, Tali cried and kneeled next to the corpse, "No, no, no! You always had a plan. Masked life signs, or, or an onboard medical stasis program maybe. You! You wouldn't…"

Tali, still on her knees, fell over the body, her head on his chest, and she sobbed, "They're wrong! You wouldn't just die like this! You wouldn't leave me to clean up your mess! You can't."

Shepard kneeled next to Tali and Rael' Zorah, she said in a gentle voice, "He was trying to help you, Tali, the only way he knew how, he didn't want to leave you."

"Of course he did!" Tali cried, Shepard felt her heart break, "Every time he went off to battle. Every time he sent me away. It was all about what he wanted…"

Tali took a sharp intake of breath and Shepard could see she was crying, because a Quarian's tears glow for a little after they leave the tear duct, Tali sobbed and pounded a fist on Rael's bloody and lifeless chest, "I wanted a father who'd take the sick-leave time and let me see his face without a helmet in the way."

Shepard felt her heart rip apart again, Tali sat up from Rael, "Instead, I got orders. And this. And a panel of Admirals that think I am a traitor. Those were my father's gifts to me."

Shepard felt she needed to back up Rael's memory, even if she now despised him, "You also got his mind, and the best military training in the Quarian fleet."

Tali sighed and looked at Shepard, "Your… Your right, I know what he'd do better than anyone… Maybe…"

Tali reached across his body to his left arm, "He had to know I'd come, maybe he left a message…"

Tali activated his omni-tool and an automated message appeared, a hologram of Rael' Zorah appeared over his corpse, "Tali. If you are listening, then I am dead. The geth have gone active. I don't have much time. Their main hub will be on the bridge. You'll need to destroy it to stop their VI processes from forming new neural links. Make sure Han' Gerral and Daro' Xen see the data. They must—"

The message was cut off as gunshots were heard in the background and Rael ran from view.

"Thanks, dad," Tali mumbled, sniffing away tears.

Shepard stood up with Tali, "He knew you'd come for him. He was trying to help you. It's not perfect. It's not what you wanted," Said Shepard as she placed a consoling hand on Tali's shoulder, "But it's the best he could do."

Tali looked down at Rael, "I don't know what's worse: Thinking that he never really cared," Shepard felt her heart tear again, she didn't know if she could take anymore, "or thinking that he did, and this was the only way he could show it."

Shepard stepped away from Tali, as she straightened herself and turned to Shepard with determination in her voice, "It doesn't matter. One way or the other, I cared. And I'm here. And we're ending this."

Shepard nodded and she and Tali walked up the stairs and suddenly Shepard stopped. She had had a sudden epiphany, "Tali! Have we found Quaero yet?"

Tali stopped and looked at Shepard, and with excitement she said "No! We haven't found him yet!"

Shepard was overtaken by pessimism from the recent emotional turmoil, "Perhaps we have found him, he just changed his suit like you…"

Tali shook her head, "No, believe me Shepard, even if he had changed his suit, we would've recognized him."

Tali turned and continued up the steps, Shepard was confused but shrugged and followed her up the stairs, weapon at the ready. Suddenly there was the loud resonating bang of a shotgun that came from the door at the top of the stairs followed by geth assault rifle fire. Tali and Shepard took that as their cue to run up the stairs.

* * *

><p>Tali and Shepard were on either side of the door leading to the bridge. Shepard slapped the green holographic image to open the door and it swung up with a chime and a whoosh.<p>

Tali and Shepard stepped inside and found themselves trapped in a glass antechamber that led preceded the bride and probably served as a decontamination or security clearance room, she looked into the bridge and her jaw fell.

There was a huge Quarian at least a foot taller than Shepard, standing past the tall glass wall that separated them. The Quarian wore thick black ablative combat armor over his suit in places that weren't armored like his arms, torso and upper thighs. The silver metal greaves that usually covered the shins and feet of Quarian's were replaced by black armor widened around his feet to make his legs look more like a Krogan's. He had a large white decorative cloth, with the beautiful swirling patterns that usually adorned Quarian suits in black, wrapped around his torso like a toga, across one shoulder then tied around the waist with a black shield harness belt. He had a typical male Quarian's helmet on, but instead of a glass mask over his face, he had a dark metal one, with thin eye slits and scratches over the speech indicator to resemble teeth. Under his suit he looked like he was made of pure muscle.

His appearance was the first thing to catch Shepard's eye, the second was the fact that he was fighting a geth trooper and a geth prime. One geth trooper lay on the floor, white coolant flowing out of a large hole in its chest, its eye light was off.

The geth trooper stood in front of him and was firing shots into the Quarian's shield, which soon overloaded, when the giant Quarian raised his right arm into the air, his body suddenly alight with a blue biotic aura.

The geth trooper floated into the air, and the Quarian blasted the geth with his shotgun, sending it flying across the room.

The geth prime then charged and swatted the Quarian's shotgun out of his hands. It then grabbed him by the throat with one hand and lifted him off of his feet. Even though the Quarian was much taller than Shepard or Tali, he still was at least a head shorter than the geth prime.

With the other hand the geth prime raised a geth assault rifle to the Quarian's stomach and was about to fire when Tali suddenly screamed, "Quaero, no!"

Tali had run up to the glass wall that separated them and was banging her fists on the glass, trying to break through to help her friend.

Both the geth prime and the Quarian looked over at Tali who was still banging her hands on the glass.

The geth prime then looked away from Tali and Shepard, satisfied that they posed no immediate threat, and back to the Quarian, whose head was still turned towards Tali. The geth prime fired off a shot into the Quarian's belly and threw him across the room.

Tali felt her heart stop at the sight. Then a whoosh sounded as the decontamination cycle ended in the glass room that preceded the room that was bridge, and the glass doors on either side of Shepard and Tali opened.

Tali immediately ran out of the left door and towards the geth prime with her shotgun at the ready. Shepard ran out the right door and raised her Revenant machine gun to eye level.

The geth prime fired at Tali, the bullets being stopped by her kinetic barrier. Tali unloaded all the shots that her thermal clip would allow into the geth prime's powerful shields, on the final shot its shield overloaded and exposed it to damage. Tali rolled behind a column and ejected her thermal clip ready for another attack.

Shepard unleashed a deadly storm of armor piercing rounds into the back of the geth prime, which quickly stopped firing at Tali behind the column and turned around towards Shepard, and fired at her instead. Shepard ducked behind a desk, and ejected her thermal clip even though she didn't need to.

Tali saw the geth prime turn around and expose its now unarmored and damaged back to Tali. Tali quickly spun out of cover and walked forward slowly while firing her shotgun into its back. She stopped about a foot behind it and fired her shotgun until its thermal clip was spent.

Its back was terribly damaged but it was still standing. It turned quickly and swung its arm into Tali's side, sending her flying across the room into the geth hub. It walked briskly up to Tali and pointed its assault rifle at her masked face. Its eye light flickered and the metal plates around its head expanded, it was ready to kill.

Suddenly it was ripped in half by a biotic warp. Tali looked over at Quaero. He sat against some boxes one arm over his bleeding stomach his other arm was raised and he glowed with a biotic aura, it quickly dissipated and his arm fell to his side. He coughed roughly and Tali rushed over to him.

"Quaero! You're going to be fine, don't worry," cried Tali as she reached him.

"Tali… It's good to see you…" he said weakly, his voice was deep and melancholy with the flare of a Quarian accent.

"SHEPARD! He needs medi-gel!" cried Tali over her shoulder.

Shepard rushed up to the two Quarians with her omni-tool at the ready she crouched next to Quaero and ran her omni-tool over his stomach.

Shepard and Tali stood and each grasped one of his hands to help him up. He stood and now Shepard could finally gauge just how tall he actually was. Shepard's jaw was open as she stared at his head which was almost unable to be seen. She thought that this is how tall a Krogan would be if you straightened his back. She shook herself out of her awe, and extended a hand to the giant.

"Hello, I am Commander Shepard, I am the Commander of the Normandy," said Shepard with authority.

"Ah, Commander Shepard, I've heard a lot about you, I am Quaero' Vega," said Quaero.

"You have?" said Shepard surprised.

"Yes, of course, we heard about the Hero of the Citadel even on the planet I was on for my Pilgrimage," said Quaero, chuckling when Shepard sighed upon hearing her title.

"And Tali," said Quaero fondly, turning to Tali who had not turned her head away from Quaero, "It's been a long time."

After a short silence, Tali was finally able to jumble together the words she wanted to say, "Uh-um, yeah. Almost ten years."

"Too long," said Quaero happily, he then laughed and bent down slightly and gave Tali a huge hug that lifted her off of her feet.

Tali felt her heart flutter during the long embrace, first she was taken off guard and she panicked, but then she relaxed, closed her eyes and savored the hug, never wanting it to end.

Suddenly Tali felt her feet touch the ground and she was brought back to reality, very sad that it had to end.

"So what are you two doing here?" asked Quaero.

"Oh," said Tali, the happiness of seeing Quaero vanished instantly, "I… I… I've been charged with treason for bringing the geth to the Migrant Fleet. We came to the Alarei to find evidence to prove that I didn't know what my… my Father had been doing."

Quaero, based on his body language, was utterly furious that the Admiralty board would do this, his body quaked with anger. He quickly calmed himself and walked over to the bridge's main computer.

"Well, I think I might be able to help with that," said Quaero while he typed into the console.

Shepard and Tali joined him at the console, a video was playing on the screen, it was of two Quarians, a man and a woman, and Rael:

"'Do we have enough parts to bring more online?' asked Rael.

'Yes. The new shipment from your daughter will let us add two more geth to the network,' said the man.

The woman said, 'We're nearing a breakthrough on systemic viral attacks. Perhaps we should inform the Admiralty Board just in case.'

'No! We're too close.' Said Rael, 'I promised to build my daughter a house on the homeworld.'" Tali shook her head, both Shepard and Quaero looked at her, "'I'm not going to sit and wait while politicians argue."

The male Quarian said, 'We'd have an easier time of it if Tali' Zorah could send back more working material.'

This caused Rael to grow angry, 'Absolutely not! I don't want Tali exposed to any political blowback.' Rael continued firmly, 'Leave Tali out of this! Assemble new geth with what we have, bypass security if need be.'" The video ended.

Quaero sighed loudly and shook his head sadly, "All this, because of the damned geth…"

"You don't think we should fight the geth?" asked Tali surprised.

"No, I don't. I believe a peaceful solution should be in effect, an agreement for symbiotic relations with the geth," said Quaero firmly, his idea garnered shock from Tali, "We can't hope to win a war against the geth."

"What about your shield ship, the Nidus?" asked Shepard, "From what I gather they'd rather use it as a weapon than to protect the Fleet."

Quaero punched a wall harshly creating a sizeable dent, "I know! The fools! I made it to protect the Fleet from dangers like geth attacks, not to use to help give the Fleet a fighting chance against the geth!"

Quaero sighed and loaded the video file from the ship onto Shepard's omni-tool, "There that should be suitable evidence to clear Tali's name. He did this for you Tali, even if the Admirals or I objected to it."

Tali sighed and hung her head, "I never wanted this. Keelah, I never wanted this."

Tali turned around and walked up to the geth prime's body, "Everything here is his fault! I tried to pretend it didn't point to him, but this… When this comes up in the trial, they'll…"

She turned to Shepard and said quickly, "We can't tell them! Not the Admirals. Not anybody."

Shepard was shocked that Tali wouldn't want to clear her name, "Tali, without this evidence you're looking at exile!"

"You think I don't know that? You think I want to live knowing I'll never see the Fleet again?"

"As long as I live that won't happen!" growled Quaero.

"Tali why don't you want to use this evidence?" asked Shepard confused.

"I can't go back into that room and say that my father was the worst war criminal in our people's history. I cannot!" said Tali, getting emotional at the end.

"We're not going to decide anything here!" said Shepard firmly, she didn't want her friend to be exiled, "Let's see what the Admirals say once we get back."

"You're my captain in this hearing, Shepard. It's your decision. But please. Don't destroy what my father was," said Tali pleadingly.

"I may be able to help in the trial," said Quaero, "I've gained a lot of respect from the Admirals, my voice will carry weight."

"Thank you, Quaero," said Tali, "But you need not, I am just glad you are alive."

"I doubt that the Admirals will disregard my presence," said Quaero laughing, he straightened himself to full height, "I am an intimidating guy."

Tali's sorrow lifted momentarily, she giggled and pushed him playfully, "Come on. If we wait too long, they'll decide we're already dead, and none of this will matter."

Shepard nodded and turned to walk out of the room, Quaero followed quickly, Tali took a second to look around the room, then she rushed after the two and walked very close to Quaero.


	3. Chapter 3: Exile

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Author's Note: AWESOME! I got a lot of hits so far! Please review and give me suggestions and ask questions! Anyways, I recently assisted an aspiring writer with her story, her name is CyanideMuffins7, if you like, go on her profile and read her story. Anyways, I won't say much anymore, unless it's important.**

**Ch. 3: Exile**

The shuttle rumbled as it docked with the Rayya, Tali sat next to Quaero and Shepard sat across from them. Shepard had been smiling under her helmet at the pair the whole trip, Quaero had been typing very quickly into his omni-tool and had begun staring at the floor for the rest of the ride, obviously deep in thought, but Tali had been stealing glances at him the entire ride.

Quaero looked up at the door to the shuttle as it opened and he stood. He had to hunch over and bend his knees slightly to fit in the shuttle. Shepard stood up next to him and help Tali up to her feet.

Tali looked at Shepard, with a pleading look in her eyes. Shepard looked away; she didn't know what she should do in the trial.

The trio stepped out of the shuttle and walked down the airlock into the docking hanger of the Rayya. Shepard led the party, earlier when Tali and Shepard first entered the Rayya; all eyes had been on Shepard because she was the first outsider welcome in the Migrant Fleet. But now all eyes were on Quaero, people mumbled as they walked by, a few cheered for Quaero.

Tali could hear Koris' voice in the distance, "We need to face facts. There has been no word. There is no reason to believe Tali' Zorah survived."

Tali sped up her walk; she said "It sounds like the hearing is already underway."

The trio walked quickly into the garden plaza, Shala' Raan said sadly, "Very well, is the Admiralty Board ready to render judgment?"

Tali and Shepard walked quickly down the stairs to the defendant's podium, Quaero stood at the top of the stairs staring at the Admirals. Tali spoke first; she stepped forward and said with a nod, "Sorry we're late."

Quaero stifled a laugh, he had never seen Tali act like a tough guy, and to him it was hilarious.

Shepard spoke in a loud determined voice, "Tali' Zorah vas Normandy saved the Alarei and a friend of yours." Shepard gestured behind her over at Quaero who descended the stairs. She spread her arms wide, "I hope this proves her loyalty to the Quarian people."

Koris straightened himself and put his arms behind his back, "Her loyalty was never in doubt," Said Koris, "Only her judgment."

Xen looked at Quaero, "We are glad to see that you're still alive Quaero. It would have been a terrible shame to have seen you perish so soon after your return from your Pilgrimage."

Quaero stood next to Tali and looked down at her, "This trial isn't about me, it's about Tali."

Tali looked up at him; Quaero looked back up at the Admirals, but not before placing a reassuring hand on Tali's shoulder. Tali's heart leapt at the touch, even though she couldn't feel it through her suit, she could feel the pressure of his hand, however, and that was enough for her.

"Well said," said Gerral with a nod, "Did you find anything on the Alarei that could clarify what happened here?"

Tali met eyes with Shepard; Shepard turned away and took a step forward. Tali panicked, _"Would she betray my trust?" _Tali thought. She stepped after Shepard and said pleadingly "Shepard, please!"

Raan leaned forward, "Does Captain Shepard have any new evidence to submit to this hearing?"

Shepard looked down at her left arm, contemplating whether or not to use the evidence, she looked up at the Admirals, "We found…" Shepard stopped and looked back at Tali, "nothing on the Alarei that we wish to submit as evidence."

Gerral looked from Shepard to Tali and said with desperation in his voice, "Tali?"

Tali looked down at the floor, "I have nothing to say."

"Then…" Raan choked on her words, she swallowed her emotion and continued, "with no further testimony, I ask those rendering judgments to do so now."

Admiral Daro' Xen raised her omni-tool almost immediately and typed in her vote. Then Admiral Han' Gerral raised his omni-tool and submitted his vote. Koris looked in between the two of them; he then looked at Tali for a long time. Slowly he raised his omni-tool and submitted his vote.

Raan looked at the results for the vote on her omni-tool; she said shakily, "Tali' Zorah, you are hereby found guilty of treason against the Quarian people and sentenced to exile."

"No!" shouted Quaero stepping up to the defendant's podium, "I did it, I activated the geth, Tali had no idea I was doing it and I did it under Rael's nose, neither of them knew I was doing it."

The whole audience erupted with shouts of shock, the Admirals looked like they were about to have a heart attack. Tali grabbed Quaero's thick arm, "Quaero don't!"

He looked down at her then back up to the Admirals, Raan said, "This is a very serious offense, do you have any evidence to prove this?" She sounded hopeful that they wouldn't have any evidence.

"I do," said Quaero typing into his omni-tool. A garbled audio file filled with static came up over the intercom system for the garden plaza.

"'Do we have enough parts to bring more online?' asked a voice that was very deep, Tali recognized the audio from the video that they had found on the Alarei, she realized that Quaero must have altered it so her father's voice would sound more like his.

'Yes. The new shipment from,' static interrupted a few words, 'will let us add two more geth to the network,' said a man.

A woman said, 'We're nearing a breakthrough on systemic viral attacks. Perhaps we should inform the Admiralty Board just in case.'

'No! We're too close.' Said the deep voice, the next part Tali remembered as Rael's promise to Tali, but it was replaced by heavy static, the static cleared and it continued "'I'm not going to sit and wait while politicians argue."

The Man said, 'We'd have an easier time of it if Tali' Zorah could send back more working material.'

'Absolutely not! I don't want Tali exposed to any political blowback.' The voice continued firmly, 'Leave Tali out of this! Assemble new geth with what we have, bypass security if need be.'" The audio file ended.

The entire room was completely silent, finally the silence was broken when Koris said, "In light of your previous service to the Quarian people, it would be within our power to…"

"No!" interrupted Quaero, "You were going to exile Tali only because you had insufficient evidence, well here is your evidence, she is innocent, I am guilty. Do not give me special treatment because I built a ship, she saved the entire galaxy from Saren and the geth two years ago. I am guilty, I admit to it."

Silence followed Quaero's speech; Tali could not take her tear filled eyes away from Quaero. Nobody had ever spoken on her behalf like that before.

Finally Raan said, "In light of this new evidence, Tali' Zorah vas Normandy is hereby cleared of all charges and found innocent." She looked down at Quaero, "Quaero' Vega vas Alarei, you are hereby found guilty of treason against the Quarian people."

Raan looked at Shepard, who was stunned at Quaero's sacrifice, and said, "Captain Shepard vas Normandy, the Fleet appreciates the passion and honor with which you represented one of our people."

Shepard looked at Raan and back at Quaero, she then processed what Raan said and replied, "Uh, yeah. Thanks."

Raan looked back at Quaero, "Quaero' Vega vas Alarei, you have six hours to leave the Migrant Fleet. Would you like to request any personal possessions from the Fleet?"

Quaero thought for a moment and said, "No Admiral, I have everything I need."

Raan straightened herself and said, "This hearing is concluded. Go in peace Tali' Zorah vas Normandy and Quaero' Vega vas Alarei, Keelah se' lai."

Quaero walked quickly up the stairs and stopped at the entrance to the docking hanger corridor to the Normandy, he looked back at Shepard waiting.

Shepard stepped in front of him, many Quarians who passed by shook his hand or patted him on the back.

"That was a very valiant thing you did back there, Quaero," said Shepard. Tali stood next to Shepard, she had not taken her eyes off of Quaero for a long time.

Quaero laughed, his voice was full of sorrow and melancholy, "Not really sure why I did it really, just felt right."

Tali was wringing her hands together, she stepped a little closer to Quaero and said, "That was really brave what you did, thank you…" Tali paused and looked down at her hands, she realized she was wringing them together and stopped; she looked back up to Quaero, "What you said… I've never had anyone speak that way on my behalf before."

"Don't mention it," said Quaero with kindness in his voice, the fact that he was wearing a mask that obscured his face completely made it even harder for Shepard to figure out what his reactions were, but Shepard assumed that he was smiling, "Really it was nothing," Quaero stopped and thought for a second, he shook his head, "No, scratch that, I just got myself exiled."

"Quaero," said Tali stepping forward a little more again, "Why?"

"Like I said Tali," said Quaero with a sigh, "I don't know, it felt wrong for you to be exiled because you wanted to protect your bosh' tet of a father's reputation. Me? I actually did something wrong, I let your father perform those experiments under the Admirals noses."

"Thank you… just… thank you," said Tali, now very close to Quaero who didn't seem to think anything of the gesture.

"Eh hem," Shepard cleared her throat loudly which caused Tali to jump away from Quaero, "Anyways, what will you do now Quaero?"

"I don't know," said Quaero a little absently, "I thought, maybe, that I could join your crew, Shepard."

Tali felt her heart do a backflip with joy at those words.

"I'm not as good with tech as Tali," said Quaero gesturing to Tali, he then glowed with a biotic aura, "but I am a biotic, and not a bad one at that, plus I have pretty extensive combat experience."

"Hmm," Shepard ponders the thought, she had seen him in action and he was a fairly effective combatant, she looks over at Tali who seemed to be almost begging her with her eyes, Shepard nodded and said, "Okay, sounds good."

Quaero nodded and extended a hand sharply, Shepard took it and they shook firmly.

* * *

><p><strong>Later on the Normandy<strong>

Quaero stood in the briefing room of the Normandy SR-2. He still had trouble grasping the fact that he would have the honor of serving on such an advanced starship, as well as the fact that he had just been exiled.

Shepard and Tali were in the room with him in the room as well as Shepard's XO, a woman named Miranda, who in Quaero's opinion was a bitch, but an attractive one. Quaero rarely held any other race in the regard of attractive, but both Shepard and Miranda were both rather attractive humans. When it came to Tali, however, he could not wrap his head around how much she had… grown up, since they had last seen each other, over nine years ago.

His eyes wandered over her now shapely form, glad to have a mask conceal his face. Shepard stood next to him and was showing him the various rooms of the Normandy on the holographic image that was displayed before him.

"…And your quarters are here in engineering next to Tali's," said Shepard pointing out a small room in the 2nd to last deck of the Normandy. "Engineers Donnelly and Daniels are also down there too in the rooms next to yours but they're pretty friendly, you guys should get along great."

Quaero nodded and looked over at Shepard. He said, "I guess I'll go down there and unpack, I'll talk to you later Shepard. And see you later Tali. Miss Lawson." Quaero nodded to Miranda as he left.

Quaero stepped out of the Normandy's Armory after greeting the dark-skinned human name Jacob. Quaero couldn't believe the amount of variety that humans came in, dark, light, ugly, pretty, red, brown, blonde, so many kinds. _"That's both the gift and the curse of Humans,"_ thought Quaero, _"They have so much diversity, but very little feeling of belonging to a whole, like the Quarians."_

Quaero stood in front of the elevator in the CIC deck of the Normandy, just behind the bright holographic galaxy map. Quaero waited for the elevator to open, after a few minutes a chirpy voice said from behind him, "You have to ask EDI to call the elevator."

Quaero turned to see a small red haired human with green eyes staring at him intently with a wide smile on her face. This was the same human that had been staring at him when he entered the Normandy the first time.

"I'm Kelly Chambers, Shepard's yeoman, but you can call me Kelly," said Kelly brightly.

"Oh, okay Kelly," said Quaero, Kelly smiled, "My name is Quaero' Vega vas…"

Quaero stopped, _"I don't have a ship name anymore do I?"_

"Uh, just Quaero' Vega, but Quaero if you please."

The elevator finally opened and a tall, very old looking Salarian with only one horn stepped out. He walked very quickly past Quaero and Kelly without looking up from his omni-tool towards the lab. Quaero stepped inside the elevator and looked for the down button.

Kelly giggled, "You have to tell EDI which deck you want to go to."

"Oh, thank you," said Quaero, "It was nice meeting you, Kelly."

The elevator door closed and Quaero could feel that the elevator didn't move. "Uh, deck four, please," said Quaero.

A cool female voice responded, "Very well, Mister Vega."

The elevator began to move and Quaero was puzzled. "Are you the ship's VI?" asked Quaero.

A small pedestal on the wall lit up and a blue hologram of a ball on a stick appeared, "Incorrect, I am EDI the Normandy's artificial intelligence."

Quaero tensed at the words artificial intelligence, he stared at the strange blue orb and pondered to himself for a long time. The AI spoke and broke Quaero out of his deep thoughts, "Will that be all Mister Vega?"

"Oh, um, yes," said Quaero anxiously.

"Logging you out," said EDI as it disappeared from the pedestal.

Quaero sighed loudly, _"What have I gotten myself into?"_


	4. Chapter 4: First Impressions

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Ch. 4: First Impressions**

Quaero sat on the small cot in his 10X10 quarters. He had his metal mask attachment sitting on the nightstand; his regular glass mask was black, extenuating the silver glow of his Quarian eyes.

Quaero was looking around his room, with happiness and guilt in his mind. These quarters were larger than anything he had ever had to himself. The few times he had had quarters this large, he had always shared it with another.

Quaero stood up and stretched, he laughed heartily at the fact that he could stand at full height in this room. He looked out the small window that was at the head of his cot and stared at the Migrant Fleet for one last time.

Quaero sighed and looked away from the Fleet; he looked around his room and smiled under his mask. This was his future now, on the Normandy, fighting the Collectors, with Shepard and Tali.

He had a few furnishings in his room, the small cot, the nightstand, a desk with a terminal, a chair for the desk, and a large locker that was built into the wall. Quaero walked over to the desk and pulled a small torn piece of the material from an envirosuit from under the cloth that decorated his suit. He ran his thumbs over it fondly before placing it on his desk.

He walked over to his locker and removed the shield harness from his waist and placed it in the locker. The cloth that was draped around him became loose; he removed it and folded it up, before placing it in the locker.

He was about to remove his combat armor, then he saw the familiar piece of rusty metal on his belt. He removed it and sighed loudly, it was his most valued keepsake, a small rose that was made of rusty scrap metal. Quaero placed it gently on his desk and turned back to his locker. After about 30 galactic standard minutes of hard work he finally removed the last piece of his armor, one of his greaves, and placed it next to his bed. Now in his regular envirosuit he sighed loudly and laid back on his cot, his legs were hanging off the end by his knees.

He was exhausted. He had hid on the Alarei for days, waiting for the perfect opportunity to try to destroy the geth hub. The perfect opportunity came when Shepard and Tali had boarded on the other side of the ship, directing all geth except the three protecting the hub, toward them. Of course, if Quaero knew it was Shepard and Tali, he would have helped them sooner, if he did, maybe he wouldn't have been shot by the geth prime.

Quaero looked down at his stomach, he had all but forgotten about his injury. A small hole in his suit caught his attention and he realized that his suit had been punctured this entire time.

Quaero quickly leapt to his feet and ran to his locker. He ruffled through it for a little before he found what he was looking for, a small vial of antibiotics and a large roll of thick black tape that was for suit repair. He quickly injected himself with the antibiotics and took out a long strip of tape. He placed the tape over the hole in his suit and relaxed.

Quaero was replacing the items in his locker when he heard the door to his room open. He looked past the door to his locker and saw that it was Shepard.

Quaero smiled under his mask and closed the locker doors, "Hello Shepard, what can I do for you?"

"Do you have a minute?" said Shepard still in the doorway.

"Sure," said Quaero, he motioned Shepard to sit in the chair by his desk; he sat on the cot and faced his desk.

"Nice to see you unarmored," said Shepard, noticing that Quaero no longer wore his armor or metal mask.

Shepard crossed the room to Quaero's desk and was about to pull the chair away when she caught a glimpse of some items on his desk: a small ragged looking piece of rubbery cloth and a rusty metal rose. Shepard picked up the rose gently and looked over to Quaero.

"What's this?" said Shepard confused.

"Oh, that's…" Quaero paused, "a gift."

Shepard shrugged and placed it back on the desk, she then picked up the cloth and looked at Quaero, "And this?"

"That is my mother's," said Quaero casually, "it's all I have to remember her with."

"Oh," said Shepard, she gently placed it back on the desk, "I'm sorry to hear that. When did she die?"

"Minutes after I was born," said Quaero with no sadness in his voice.

"So you were raised by your father?" asked Shepard sitting down in the chair.

"No," said Quaero looking down at the floor briefly then back up at Shepard, "I didn't really have a father."

"What?" asked Shepard, bewildered.

"It's a long story Shepard," said Quaero with a light chuckle.

Shepard didn't say anything, she just motioned for him to continue.

Quaero sighed, "Okay, I am a genetic experiment." Quaero said it so bluntly that it took Shepard off guard, "it was a project headed by Admiral Daro' Xen, you met her at the trial, that was done in secret. Its purpose was to create a Quarian whose immune system was strong enough to be able to survive open air exposures and foreign bacteria. It failed."

Quaero sat back on his cot so his back rested on the wall, "The project was so secretive that only the Admirals and I know about it. The scientists took DNA from two extraordinary Quarians to create a fertilized fetus, they then spliced certain DNA strands of the fetus, me, with Krogan DNA."

Shepard couldn't hide her shock, the thought of interspecies DNA splicing was horrifying to Shepard, "Why would they do something like that?"

"I can't really blame them," Quaero said, Shepard's jaw dropped, and Quaero laughed, "Come on, Shepard! We are a very vulnerable species, it's not a bad idea, and it's not like it hurt me as a fetus!"

Shepard shook her head, she looked down at his feet which were now unarmored and then to his black metal greaves that made his legs look like a Krogan's. Shepard said, "Oh! Is that why you wear those greaves?" Shepard pointed at the greaves near Quaero's cot.

Quaero looked down at them and back up to Shepard, she could tell that he was smiling, "Yes, it's sort of my personal joke to the Admirals."

Shepard smiled, "So, Krogan DNA? You said it failed to improve your immune system?"

Quaero nodded, "Yes, my immune system is slightly better, and I adapt better to foreign bacteria and microorganisms, but it's not at all what they were aiming for."

Quaero stood to his full height, and continued, "There were some, side effects, however."

Shepard smiled and said, "Like?"

"Well I got really tall," said Quaero with a chuckle as he sat back down, "also my muscle density was much higher than an average Quarian; in fact I rival the strength of some Krogan." Shepard's jaw dropped again, Quaero continued, "I also have some of the Krogan regenerative traits, but that's about all from my Krogan DNA."

Quaero paused to let all the information soak in for Shepard, then he said suddenly, "Oh! And I have two hearts," said Quaero, Shepard looked horrified, but fascinated, "You know how Krogan have duplicate sets of organs right?"

"Yes I do," Shepard paused and bit her lip to stifle a smile, "Do you have any other duplicate organs?"

"What?" Quaero stopped and it took him a long time to realize what Shepard meant, "Oh no! Just two hearts, no quad. I mean there are the normal amount of those."

Shepard was tipping over in her chair laughing, after a while Quaero joined in. Soon the laughing stopped and Shepard said, "So, what other kind of experiments did the Admirals perform."

Quaero stopped laughing suddenly and said gruesomely, "Well, when I was very young they exposed me to common forms of bacteria, to try and boost my immune system."

Shepard's smile vanished instantly, "How young?"

"A few months," said Quaero, Shepard had a look of anger and shock on her face that caused Quaero to look away, "I can't complain though, I mean it is harder for me to get sick now, so…"

Shepard's expression was very angry, "How can you not be angry at them? They probably brought you to the brink of death countless times!"

Quaero nodded at Shepard's words, and said neutrally "That's true and they did kill my mother."

Shepard's horror and anger burst out in her expression most now, Quaero cringed under his mask at the sight of Shepard's wrath, she screamed "How could they do that to you?"

Quaero shrugged and said, "Calm down Shepard, it was to make me a stronger person."

"How can you defend them after what they did?" Shepard screamed.

"I hold no grudge against them, they did what they had to," said Quaero with neutrality in his voice still, "My mother wasn't really my mother; she was just a surrogate for me."

Shepard's rage died down a little to listen to Quaero's story, Quaero continued, "They picked a volunteer from a list of candidates to carry me and give birth to me. While I was in the womb the kept her in a clean room without a suit on and exposed her to element zero to make me a biotic. She got very sick during pregnancy from element zero poisoning, and only lasted long enough to give birth to me." Quaero looked over at the cloth on the desk, "Even though I never met her, I still consider her my mother, she carried me, gave birth to me, and sacrificed herself for me. I couldn't ask for a better mother."

Quaero stopped and looked down at his feet. Shepard stood and said, "I'll talk to you later Quaero." And left quickly, as to hide the tears in her eyes. Quaero watched her go and after a while he laid himself back down on his cot and fell asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Hours Later<strong>

Quaero opened his eyes and sat up from his bed, this was one of the times that he wished that he could remove his mask to rub his eyes. He exhaled loudly heard a loud growl in his stomach.

Quaero remembered that he hadn't had the opportunity to eat the entire time he was in hiding on the Alarei.

Then Quaero remembered that that was also the one thing he had forgotten to get from the Migrant Fleet. Food. Quaero sighed loudly, and stood from his bed. He stretched and groaned loudly, he checked the time on his omni-tool and gasped. It was very late in galactic standard time and he would likely be the only one awake at this time. He sighed and left his room.

Quaero walked up the stairs in engineering and heard what sounded like snoring from the engine maintenance room.

Quaero opened the door and walked inside. The two terminals on the right side of the room didn't have anyone at them. He looked down to the left side of the room and saw Tali, asleep in the corner near her terminal.

Quaero laughed quietly to himself, he knew his friend well and this was just like her, to pass out from exhaustion after working.

Quaero tip-toed up to Tali and scooped her up in his arms. She was fast asleep and didn't wake, but she groaned slightly and nuzzled her head into Quaero's chest. He smiled and carried her back downstairs to her room.

* * *

><p><strong>Later on the Crew Deck<strong>

Quaero was looking through the refrigerator behind the small counter on the crew deck. He couldn't find any Quarian food paste but he did find some Turian food that he would be able to eat. He wasn't sure if he should eat it however, it wasn't his to begin with. So he shrugged and closed the refrigerator. He stretched again and felt a twinge of pain in his abdomen. He looked down and remembered that he had been shot, he realized that the projectile that the geth shot was likely still in him and he needed further medical attention. He looked over to the glass windows that led to the med-bay and saw an older human woman working at a terminal.

Quaero walked into the med-bay and stood behind the human, who hadn't noticed him. Quaero was about to get the human's attention when she suddenly turned her chair around which caused Quaero to jump.

"You must be Quaero' Vega, I'm Dr. Chakwas, what can I do for you," said Chakwas.

"Back on the Alarei, I was shot and I'd like some medical attention," said Quaero.

The human quickly stood and walked to a wall that had a pair of some heavy looking hazmat suits hanging in a clear locker. She pulled one on and motioned for Quaero to lie on a bed. Quaero did as instructed and she walked over to him and typed into her omni-tool.

Suddenly the bright lights of the med-bay turned red and EDI's voice echoed throughout the room, "Decontamination in progress."

A bright blue pane of light moved slowly back and forth through the med-bay and eliminated bacteria from the air. Quaero looked around the room impressed.

"They've really thought of everything here didn't they," said Quaero with a small chuckle.

"This system was installed recently, soon after Tali' Zorah joined the crew," said Chakwas, as she pulled various pieces of medical equipment from a drawer under the bed and placed them on a tray next to her, "Thankfully, I haven't had to use it."

The blue pane of light disappeared and the lights returned to normal, EDI said, "Decontamination complete."

"Thank you, EDI," said Chakwas.

"Logging you out, Doctor," said EDI.

Chakwas gently pressed the release seals on the sides of Quaero's abdomen to remove the mid-section of his envirosuit from him. Quaero looked at Chakwas impressed. She clearly knew, not only how to remove a Quarian's suit, but also about Quarian physiology and biology. Quaero felt the cold air kiss his sensitive skin, he lifted his head to get a better look.

Quaero stared at his now exposed stomach. He saw his wound a small red hole on the left side of his stomach, and a large amount of semi-dried blood around the wound. Quaero hadn't seen his skin in some time, it was very pale from lack of sun exposure, and his stomach was very muscular, almost completely rock-hard.

Quaero smiled and leaned his head back as Chakwas gently removed the medi-gel plug from his bullet wound. The anesthetic properties of the medi-gel had worn off and he felt the burning pain of the wound.

Chakwas examined the wound closely, she said, "It's a deep wound, the projectile is still in you."

She looked up at Quaero, who lifted his helmeted head to look at her, and said, "I am going to half to cut it out of you."

Quaero let his head fall back onto the bed with a loud thud. He chuckled making his wound hurt again, "Sure Doc. Go ahead."

Chakwas nodded and walked over to a small cabinet on the wall, and removed a small vial of anesthetic from it. She took out a sterilized syringe as well and withdrew a healthy amount of fluid from the vial. She pressed lightly on the plunger and tapped the syringe with her finger to let out any air pockets.

Chakwas walked back over to Quaero and injected the syringe's contents into Quaero's belly. She rubbed the area around injection to get his blood flowing and raised a small scalpel from her tray of tools.

Quaero grimaced as she made a small incision over his bullet wound. She then pulled a small pair of forceps from her tray and inserted them into the wound. After a couple seconds of digging she removed a tiny piece of tungsten alloy from his wound and placed it into a small separate tray.

Chakwas then sutured up his wound and covered that with medi-gel. Chakwas placed all of her bloody instruments into a small basket and walked back to the suit locker.

Quaero sat up and closed his suit again, he looked respectfully over to the doctor. She had removed her hazmat suit and replaced it in the locker. She pressed a button next to the locker, and it filled with pinkish foam. Quaero assumed that this was some sort of antibacterial foam and lifted himself slowly off the bed.

Chakwas pressed another button next to the locker and the foam quickly disappeared as it was sucked out by a powerful vacuum. Chakwas turned to Quaero.

"Thank you Doctor, you're a miracle worker," said Quaero fondly.

Chakwas laughed and went back to her terminal, she said with a friendly smile, "All in a day's work. Have a nice day Mister Vega."

Quaero walked out of the med-bay and back toward the elevator. He stopped in front of it and was about to ask EDI to call the elevator when he looked down the hall and saw a room marked, "Starboard Observation."

Quaero, curious, walked up to the door and opened it, and raised his eyebrows when he saw an Asari sitting in front of the window, looking away from him. Her body was alight with a biotic glow and Quaero walked in silently and sat on a bench behind her. After a long silence, the Asari's blue glow suddenly evaporated, she walked over to the bench Quaero was sitting on and sat next to him.

"My name is Quaero' Vega," said Quaero, he didn't extend a hand because he had the feeling that this asari wouldn't shake it.

"Quaero' Vega," said the asari, smiling at his name, her voice was placid and motherly, "that is a lovely name; I am Samara."

Quaero had the feeling that she actually knew what his name meant, "You know what it means?"

Samara smiled at him, "Yes, I have studied the species of the galaxy extensively." She looked out the window, "Your name is very beautiful, and it has a lot of meaning."

Quaero tilted his head to the side, impressed, he thought to himself, _"Shepard really knows how to pick 'em."_

Quaero didn't respond to Samara's compliment however, and joined her in looking out of the window.

After a time, Samara said, "This has been lovely." She stood and walked over to where she previously sat and returned to her former position, crossed legged, and glowing brightly with biotics.

Quaero stood, a little confused, and walked out of the room.


	5. Chapter 5: Killing Time

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Ch. 5: Killing Time**

Quaero awoke again to the sound of beeping from his terminal. His stomach growled loudly, he rubbed it. He hadn't found anything to eat the previous night. He stood and walked over to his terminal, the beeping was due to there being two new messages. He leaned over the chair and opened his inbox. One message was from Shepard, the other was from Miranda Lawson. Quaero opened the one from Shepard it read:

_To: Quaero' Vega_

_From: Shepard_

_Hi Quaero, _

_It's still early, but I told Miranda to let you sleep in, you had a long day yesterday._

Quaero yawned and looked at the time the message was received and the current time on his omni-tool. There was almost a five hour difference. Quaero whistled and shook his head and continued reading.

_We are on route to a Blue Suns' base on Sanctum to disable a false distress beacon. We are going to be arriving in approximately 10 hours GST. I will be taking you with me to assess your combat ability. Be ready at least 1 hour GST before arrival, so we can brief you on the situation and you have time to suit up._

_Until then kill time. Or just sleep in!_

_Shepard_

Quaero smiled and threw a few punches into the air, he was happy to be able to blow off some steam with combat. Quaero clicked on Miranda's message it read:

_To: Quaero' Vega_

_From: XO, Operative Miranda Lawson_

_Crewmember Vega,_

_See in my office on the crew deck as soon as you have had your rest._

_Operative Lawson_

Quaero sighed and shrugged, he would see Miranda after meeting the crew. Quaero figured now would be a good time to meet everybody. He had four hours until he had to suit up, meeting the crew would be a good way to kill time.

Quaero began to walk out of his room, but he grabbed his metal over-mask from his nightstand and snapped it into place over his glass mask.

Quaero walked out of his room and saw a human woman in the small alcove across from the engineer's rooms. The alcove was lit with a dull red light and had a few furnishings in it: a cot and a shelf with various weapons on it. The human herself was bald and covered with colorful pictures. Quaero remembered reading about them somewhere; humans sometimes put these pictures under their skin to make themselves more colorful, even though Quaero thought that humans were already colorful as it is. The human also wore strange clothing, a pair of construction worker's pants and boots and what looked like a leather gun harness over her chest. The woman was interesting so Quaero decided to introduce himself.

Quaero walked over to her, and before he could say anything she said, "Oh look, you must be Shepard's new pet-in-a-can, you're a lot bigger than that squeaky one upstairs."

Quaero was puzzled, "What? You mean Tali?"

The human laughed, "No, I mean the fuckin' space hamster."

Quaero was still very confused and chose to change the subject, "Uh, my name is Quaero."

The human laid down on the cot, she said, "Jack."

Quaero tilted his head to the side, "That's you name?"

The human named Jack laughed again, "Geez you're fuckin' stupid, just get the fuck outta here before I get my can opener."

Quaero shook his head and walked away.

Quaero stepped into the engine maintenance room and saw two more humans, one red haired and light skinned and the other brown haired and tan skinned.

Quaero walked up behind them and cast a shadow over the red haired one's terminal.

"The hell is wrong with the lights now," said the red haired one with a funny human accent as he turned around and crashed into Quaero who didn't flinch. The brown haired one was laughing as the red haired one picked himself up off of the floor.

"That was a good one buddy," said the brown haired one as she playfully punched Quaero's arm. "I'm Gabby, that lazy sack of haggis is Ken."

"Oi! I'll have you know that my mother's haggis is the best of the best," said Ken as he leaned against his desk.

"But all haggis tastes like ass," said Gabby.

"Aye, but damn fine ass," said Ken with a mischievous smile.

"It's good to meet you two my name is Quaero," said Quaero after he had stopped laughing.

"We know," said Ken exasperatedly.

"Ken! Shh!" whispered Gabby, punching Ken in the arm. Gabby nodded her head over to Tali's work station.

Quaero looked over at Tali, who quickly turned her head away, so it would seem like she hadn't been staring. Quaero chuckled and said, "I'll see you guys later."

Tali watched Quaero walk out of the maintenance room and was disappointed that he didn't come to talk to her. She sighed sadly and stared at the door that Quaero had just walked out of. Suddenly a deep voice came from behind her, "Hi."

Tali jumped and turned around, Quaero stood there. She could see that his eyes were narrower than they normally were, he was smiling. Tali smacked him on the arm as hard as she could. He just laughed loudly.

"You bosh' tet!" said Tali giggling.

"Sorry, I just couldn't help myself," said Quaero laughing.

Tali sighed. She was very happy that he was on the Normandy with her; it had been almost ten years since they had served on a vessel together and it was like no time had passed between them.

"So how have you been?" said Quaero happily.

"Well I am really good," said Tali cheerily, she took on a serious tone, "I get to see the Flotilla again, thanks to you."

Tali could see that his smile faded, Tali realized she had spoken about it too soon, "I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

Quaero interrupted, "It's okay Tali, I don't regret my decision."

Tali just had to know, "Why did you do it?"

Quaero was about to say something, then looked over to the two engineers who were watching intently, they quickly ran back to their terminals.

Tali shook her head and motioned for Quaero to follow. Tali led him into the room that held the massive glowing blue Tantalus drive core. They stood facing each other, Quaero leaning against the handrail, Tali looking rather tense.

Quaero said, "Like I said, I don't know for sure, but it felt like the right thing to do. Besides you my friend, I couldn't see you torn away from the one thing you loved most in this world."

"_More like the second thing,"_ thought Tali, blushing. She looked up at Quaero and said, "I don't know how to thank you Quaero. Nobody has ever done anything like that for me before."

Quaero chuckled, "Yeah, me neither."

Tali laughed, "You know what I mean."

"Well if it's any consolation I am sure Shepard would've done the same thing," said Quaero.

Tali said, "I am sure she would."

Silence followed for a little, then Quaero said, "Sorry about your father Tali."

Tali suddenly felt her heart sink a little, "No, don't be."

Quaero pushed himself from the rail, and said, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because he was hardly a father at all," said Tali sadly, Quaero was shocked at her words, "He was never around for me, he never said that he loved me, and he wouldn't even take his mask off for me to see his face."

Quaero had stepped forward a little, Quaero said, "He loved you all the same." Quaero gripped Tali's upper arms firmly, and looked deep into her eyes, "I swore to him that I would protect you."

Tali's eyes watered as she stared into Quaero's, she said weakly, "He asked you to that for me?"

Tali could see Quaero's eyes narrow again, he was smiling again, and he said quietly, "He didn't have to."

Tali couldn't feel her legs anymore, but she managed to stay standing. Quaero released her and started walking away. Tali placed her hands on her chest to make sure her heart was still beating, she looked after Quaero as he walked away.

Quaero looked over his shoulder and called to her, "Talk to you later, Tali."

* * *

><p><strong>Later on the Crew Deck<strong>

Quaero sat alone at a table on the Crew Deck, sucking at a tube of food paste through his suit's food port. He had gotten it from the strange old human named Gardener in the kitchen area of the crew deck. Apparently he had plenty of it thanks to Tali.

Quaero had already gone through five tubes of paste, and still had four sitting on the table in front of him. In the middle of Quaero's meal, a tall Turian in black and blue armor and with scars on his face came and stood at the table with Quaero, holding a tray of food.

"You mind?" said the Turian, gesturing to one of the many vacant chairs.

Quaero just nodded and didn't take the tube from his food port. The Turian sat across from Quaero and quickly extended a hand across the table, he said, "Name's Garrus."

Quaero quickly swallowed the food in his mouth and shook the Turian's hand he responded, "Quaero, nice to meet you."

They both sat back in their chairs and Garrus was the first to speak, "I was supposed to be at the trial with Tali. The Captain told me I had to stay on the Normandy however."

Quaero nodded, "I see. That does make sense. Are you and Tali good friends?"

"Yes, we were both on Shepard's crew on the first Normandy," said Garrus as he chewed on a cut of dark blue meat, "It was a real disappointment that I wasn't there to help Tali through that rough time."

Quaero nodded again, "I know what you mean, I haven't seen Tali in years, and it shocks me how much she has changed. And it kills me that I wasn't around for that."

Garrus sat back in his chair and sipped at a glass of green liquid, he said, "So you two were close when you were young?"

Quaero nodded, "Yes we were the best of friends. When I had to leave on my Pilgrimage that was a really hard time for us."

Garrus leaned forward and took another bite of the blue steak, then said, "So you're a little older than Tali?"

"Yes I am three years older than her," said Quaero.

"Huh, so when do young Quarians first go on their Pilgrimages?" asked Garrus.

"About 18," said Quaero after swallowing more food paste, "I was also on my Pilgrimage far longer than most Quarians, I was on mine for about 9 years."

"So Tali left on hers three years after you?" asked Garrus eating a pile of small round vegetables.

"No, I believe she actually left on her Pilgrimage when she was twenty one," Quaero said, when Garrus looked a little confused, Quaero explained, "She had much more extensive military training than most Quarians get."

Garrus nodded and ate some more of his steak, "So what did you bring the Fleet?"

Quaero was surprised about how much Garrus knew about Quarian culture, he then realized that he had been good friends with Tali, and she must have told him about it, "Oh, I built a ship, that I designed myself, that produces a kinetic barrier that can encompass the entire Flotilla."

Garrus choked on his food, after he had stopped coughing he took a large gulp of his drink and said, "That's incredible! How did you pull that off by yourself?"

Quaero laughed and shook his head, "No, I could have never done that alone, I had a whole team of Quarians, all on their Pilgrimages to help me."

"Wow," said Garrus impressed, "How many were there?"

"Almost one hundred," said Quaero.

"You led an army of Quarian workers to build a huge ship?" said Garrus leaning forward, forgetting his food.

"I wouldn't say an army, but sure," said Quaero laughing loudly.

"That's very impressive, what happened to them?" asked Garrus leaning back.

Quaero was silent for a minute, and then said, "We went our separate ways."

"All of them?" said Garrus surprised, "I would have figured that they would take the ship back with you, like its one huge gift from a hundred Quarians."

Quaero was about to speak when the floor underneath them began to rumble lightly. A large Krogan walked around the wall that separated the Crew Deck. He was orange skinned with silver armor and silver scales and was very large for a Krogan, but Quaero noticed that his hump and head plate were mostly undeveloped, so he assumed that this Krogan was an adolescent.

Garrus leaned over to Quaero and whispered, "That's Grunt. Just stay out of his way and he won't bother you."

Quaero knew a lot about Krogan traditions so he stood quickly and straightened himself to full height and stood in Grunt's way. Grunt stopped and stared at Quaero with malice in his blue eyes, Grunt's head only came up to about Quaero's chest. Garrus' eyes shot back and forth between the two. Many of the other crew members getting food had also stopped to stare.

Grunt huffed and said, "You're big for a toaster."

Quaero puffed up his chest and said, "You're big for a child."

Grunt huffed again and pushed Quaero to get him to move. Quaero stumbled back slightly, but quickly walked back up to him and fiercely head-butted Grunt on his head plate. Grunt backed a step, but no more than that.

The entire room's occupants uttered gasps of shock. Garrus just sat very tense in his chair, waiting for the worst to happen suddenly a jittery and high pitched voice said quickly and quietly behind him, "Smart. Attempting to establish dominance or at least respect. Very clever."

Garrus looked over his shoulder and saw Mordin leaning against the wall watching the confrontation. Garrus turned his head back to the tense pair.

Grunt smiled a little and said threateningly, "You want to settle this meat bucket?"

Quaero laughed and said, "I have an idea."

* * *

><p>Shepard stepped off the elevator onto the Crew Deck. Shepard was looking at her omni-tool going over reports from Miranda, she was going to her office to talk to her about some data, when she heard something out of the ordinary.<p>

Shouts and cheers were coming from the mess, and Shepard quickly walked around the elevator and partition wall to see what was going on.

Shepard saw the entire crew on the crew deck gathered around a table, and lots of noise was coming from the crowd, a few were holding credit chits up into the air. Shepard pushed her way through the crowd and her eyes widened at what she saw.

Quaero and Grunt sat across from each other, arm wrestling. Quaero looked like he was having an incredibly hard time, he was banging his free hand on the table and groaning with effort. Grunt was just gritting his teeth and growling through them as he tried to gain the upper hand. They seemed to be at an impasse, their hands stayed shaking violently in the same place.

Then Grunt let out a loud roar and slowly began to overtake Quaero. Quaero yelled as his hand finally touched the table. And the whole crowd cheered as Grunt stood, raised his fists into the air and roared. He then pounded his fist into his palm and hopped up a little, and the crowd began to pass around credit chits.

Then Shepard heard Miranda yell loudly from across the room, "Enough! Everyone back to work." Shepard walked past Quaero staring at him impressed.

* * *

><p>Quaero stood and rubbed his arm, Grunt walked past and slapped him on the chest laughing, "Not bad Quarian, not bad."<p>

"It's Quaero," said Quaero firmly.

"Right," said Grunt still laughing, he walked away towards Gardener.

Quaero got pats on the back and shook the hands of a few people. Finally Garrus came up to him, he said excitedly, "Damn! I've never seen anyone do anything like that before!"

"I had to gain his respect," said Quaero laughing, still rubbing his arm.

"Very good work. Very impressive display. No easy feat getting a Krogan's respect," said the one-horned Salarian as he walked up next to Garrus.

"Oh," said Garrus, "Quaero, this is the Normandy's head researcher, Mordin Solis. Mordin, this is Quaero' Vega he is new."

"Ah, it is a pleasure. Now I must be getting back to my lab, have to find out how a Varren STD made it into Mathew's system. Suspect tampered medical files. Can't be certain," said Mordin walking away.

Quaero smiled and looked toward Miranda's office, he saw Shepard leaving and she looked at him with a smile. He waved and she just smiled wider and kept walking. Quaero saw Miranda poke her head out and beckon him over with a stern glare.

Quaero looked at Garrus, "Sorry Garrus, but I have to talk with Miranda. Talk to you later Garrus."

Garrus nodded and began walking up the walkway lined with sleep pods toward the door at the far end marked "Main Battery", he called behind him, "If you need me I'll be doing some calibrations."

Quaero stepped into Miranda's office and took a seat on the chair in front of her large desk. She was busily typing on her terminal and didn't stop for a while after Quaero entered.

Finally Miranda pushed her terminal away and propped her elbows on her desk, she glared at Quaero, and said sternly, "I told you to come speak to me as soon as you woke up."

Quaero, annoyed, said, "I hadn't eaten in four days, I needed to eat something."

Miranda said quickly, "It could have waited."

Quaero sighed and said, "What did you want to see me about."

Miranda stood and walked around her desk. She stood in front of Quaero and said, "Everyone on the Normandy has to pull their own weight, I need to discuss your duties with you." She sat down in a chair across from him and grabbed a data pad off of her desk. She continued as she read the data pad, "But first, I need to assess what you're good at, if anything."

Quaero couldn't believe what a bitch she was, but he just shook his head and sat back in his chair.

She placed the data pad in her lap and looked up at Quaero, "What skills do you have other than combat."

Quaero thought for a moment then said, "Well, I am a Quarian so I am moderately experienced with tech. But I am not as good at it as some people are."

Miranda sighed and shook her head and typed into the data pad. When she had finished she looked up, she said, "Anything else."

"Hm," Quaero thought, he wanted to prove her wrong, respect was very important to Quaero and if people didn't respect him, he wasn't happy, "Well, I am a pretty good pilot."

"We already have a pilot and there is no need for a copilot," said Miranda again looking down at her data pad and typing into it.

Quaero said, "I'm not bad with ship systems either, I did design and build a good ship."

Miranda was still typing into her data pad, "I am aware."

"If you want you could stick me in engineering, or I could work in navigations or communications. Or I could help with that shuttle of yours," said Quaero trying to suggest things to make himself useful.

"How could you possibly help with the shuttle?" asked Miranda.

Quaero glared at her under his mask, he exhaled and said, "I could upgrade it with weapons, I could improve its shields and armor, I could upgrade its interior and VI to make the occupants more comfortable, take your pick."

Miranda was silent for a moment then said, "Alright I am going to have you making improvements to the Kodiak's systems for now. After you are done however, I'll have to find somewhere to put you."

Quaero stood and said, "Understood, are we done?"

"Yes," Miranda said, sounding just as eager to get away as he did, "I will forward the necessary schematics and requisition documents to your terminal."

Quaero left without another word, he wanted to suit up so he could be ready for the briefing with Shepard on the mission.


	6. Chapter 6: Sanctum

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Ch. 6: Sanctum**

Quaero sat in his room and snapped his black greave onto his leg and stood fully armored. All that was left for him to put on was his white toga wrap with black decorations and shield harness. Before he did so however, he picked up the small piece of torn envirosuit from his desk and tucked it into his belt and placed the small metal rose into his belt as well.

He walked over to his locker and wrapped the long stretch of cloth around himself, and buckled the shield harness over it to keep it in place. Quaero hopped up and down a little to get used to the weight of his armor. It added on another 90 lbs. to him. Not including weapons and thermal clips.

Quaero checked his omni-tool again, and saw that he still had about an hour until he had to be at the briefing with Shepard. He decided to kill time by looking over the schematics that Miranda had sent him. He sat down at his desk and read the complicated schematics, writing down ideas for upgrades onto a notepad that he found in one of his desk drawers.

Quaero was in the middle of drawing up designs for a side mounted machine gun, when the cool synthetic voice of EDI made him jump, "Pardon my interruption Mister Vega, but the briefing with Shepard has begun and the meeting is being delayed due to your absence. Shepard would like to know if you will be attending."

Quaero jumped to his feet and as he rushed out the door he said, "Yeah I'll be there. Thanks."

* * *

><p><strong>Later in the Briefing Room on the CIC<strong>

Quaero ran into the briefing room on the CIC, Shepard, Grunt, and Miranda were standing around the table. Shepard heard Quaero enter and looked up, she smiled warmly, informing Quaero that she didn't mind that he was late. Miranda on the other hand looked like she was going to make her eye balls pop out of her head because she was glaring so much.

"Sorry, I'm late," said Quaero rushing over to Shepard's side, "I lost track of time."

"Don't worry about it, I am sure you were doing something important," said Shepard kindly.

"Well now that he's finally showed up, I supposed we can begin," said Miranda walking around the table to get closer to the hologram of the Normandy. She typed into her omni-tool and the orange hologram of the Normandy changed to a hologram of a planet.

Miranda began, "This is Sanctum, and the source of the distress beacon that lured the MSV Strontium Mule to be captured."

She tapped a blip on the planet and it zoomed to show a large fortified structure sticking out of the side of a rock face. She continued, "This is the source of the beacon, a large and very active Blue Suns base. The entrance is heavily fortified with regular patrols and surface-to-orbit sensors that have likely already detected us."

She paused for a second and typed into her omni-tool, and continued, "Unfortunately due to the high density of metals in the planet's crust, the fact that this facility is mostly underground makes it impossible to scan the interior. So we don't know what's going to be inside; though EDI estimates that there are at least 30-50 Blue Suns personnel inside as well as the possibility of automated security such as mechs. Any questions?"

Quaero looked at Shepard who didn't say anything then to Grunt who looked like he hadn't been paying attention.

"Alright," said Shepard, "Quaero, Grunt head to the armory and grab your gear. I'll meet you down in the shuttle hanger."

* * *

><p><strong>Later on Sanctum<strong>

Quaero was crouched behind a large rock and was firing at the hordes of Blue Suns piling out of the base with an Avenger assault rifle.

He ejected his thermal clip and looked over to Shepard who was pinned down behind another rock about 20 feet away. Quaero signaled to Shepard, who signaled back, telling him to advance. Quaero got ready to charge closer to the Blue Suns so he could devastate them with his Scimitar shotgun. Shepard signaled Quaero to go, while she laid down covering fire with her Revenant machine gun.

Quaero charged forward boosting himself with a biotic rush. He flew over the rocks that they used for cover and crashed into a Blue Suns trooper sending out a wave of biotic force that knocked down all the other Blue Suns. He quickly blasted each prone Blue Suns trooper with his shotgun. After they were all dead he placed the shotgun back into its place on his lower back and pulled out his assault rifle. Quaero turned around and waited for Shepard and Grunt to catch up.

"Nice move," said Shepard as she walked past him and into the base. Quaero smiled under his mask and followed her, Grunt walking behind him.

* * *

><p><strong>Inside the Blue Suns Base<strong>

Quaero was crouched at the top of one of the ramps that led up to their position. Shepard had ordered him and Grunt to cover the ramps so that no Blue Suns would flank them. Shepard was in the middle firing at the Blue Suns on the lower level with her Revenant.

Quaero used his biotics to throw an advancing Blues Suns trooper back down the ramp. He rolled limply when he hit the bottom and lay on the ground motionless. Quaero fired at the Blue Suns with Shepard using his Avenger. After they had all died the team quickly descended the ramps and entered the Mess Hall.

Quaero took point and walked into the Mess Hall, gun at the ready. He quickly scanned the room and lowered his guard slightly when he saw that it was clear. Then a few shots hit his shield and he dove behind table that was conveniently on its side.

Quaero looked up and saw a gaping hole in the wall of the Mess and was confused at how he didn't notice that.

Blue Suns soldiers poured out of the tunnel and tried to enter the Mess, but were immediately gunned down by the combined fire of Grunt, Quaero, and Shepard, all of them using their assault rifles. After only a few minutes, Blue Suns troopers stopped coming out of the tunnel. Quaero followed Shepard and Grunt into the tunnel.

* * *

><p>Quaero emerged in a large transportation hub after exiting the tunnel. Suddenly a torrent of powerful minigun fire ripped at the teams shields. They all spread out and dove for cover. Quaero peeked over a crate and saw, not one, but two YMIR mechs stomping slowly towards them firing long bursts from their miniguns, and then stopping only briefly to fire rockets at them.<p>

Quaero typed in the code for disruptor ammo into his assault rifle then began firing at one of the YMIR mechs. Its powerful shields absorbed the projectiles easily, but small ripples of electricity emanated from where the bullets made contact. Soon its shield overloaded and Quaero switched to armor piercing rounds.

Shepard's voice crackled in over his helmet's communicator, "Focus all fire on the mech without the shield! Quaero use a biotic warp to cut a hole in its armor!"

Quaero looked over at Shepard and nodded; he quickly stood and used a warp on the unshielded YMIR. It stumbled back a step and began firing at Quaero's cover, slowly advancing on him. The other YMIR had Grunt pinned down. Shepard stood and fired relentlessly at the mech whose armor had been ripped apart by Quaero's powerful warp. It soon stopped firing and fell backwards; it was very near Quaero's cover and when it exploded, the concussion launched Quaero a few feet into the wall behind him.

The other YMIR had noticed this and had turned its guns on the stunned Quaero. Quaero quickly ran behind some large crates, but he had taken a hit to his shoulder when his shields overloaded.

Quaero took out his assault rifle, "Two gunshots in two days. This is turning out to be a good decision," said Quaero to himself as he plugged his bullet wound with medi-gel.

He switched to disruptor ammo again and fired at the mech's shield. It turned back to Quaero and fired at him, firing a rocket at him after a bit.

Grunt charged at the mech and entered its kinetic barrier. He pulled out his Claymore shotgun and blasted the mech in the back of the leg. The hydraulics blew out and it dropped down onto all fours. Grunt walked around to its head, and with a roar, blew its head off with his shotgun.

The mech fell to the ground, headless, and Grunt laughed loudly, suddenly a loud voice came from the mech, "Detonation in 3…2… 1!"

Grunt had managed to run only ten feet away before it detonated. Shepard ducked behind her cover as the intense light and heat from the explosion blew over her head. As soon as it had dissipated, Shepard looked over her cover in panic. Had Grunt died?

The entire area thirty feet around the blast epicenter was stained black. Except for the area around Grunt. He was inside a large blue bubble, a biotic barrier. Shepard looked over at Quaero who had his arm raised and was glowing with biotics.

Grunt had his arms over his head; he slowly lowered them and looked around confused. Quaero lowered his arm and fell back against the wall, sliding down slowly.

Shepard and Grunt ran to him, Shepard shook him a little. She said, "Quaero! Quaero! Are you ok?"

Quaero jumped a little and looked around, "I… I'm fine, just a little tired. That was a big explosion, and the barrier took a lot out of me."

Suddenly bullets started to ping the wall and crates around them. Shepard turned her head and saw Blue Suns running into the room. One merc in particular stood out, he was a human and had tech armor and carried a Revenant machine gun. He signaled to his men and ducked behind a crate.

Shepard dragged Quaero behind a crate and withdrew her Revenant. She fired short controlled bursts at the troopers; they died one after another, thanks to Shepard and Grunts gunfire.

Finally, only the leader of the Blue Suns was left. He kept Shepard and Grunt under heavy fire; but his shields were down and he was injured. Every time Shepard or Grunt would try to poke their heads out he would fire at them, keeping them in cover.

Quaero looked over the boxes at the Blue Suns leader. He grabbed his assault rifle and carefully aimed. Quaero fired one shot, which connected with the leader's throat. The Blue Suns leader fell to his knees and dropped his gun, clutching at his bleeding neck. Shepard walked up to him and drew her pistol. She shot him in the head and ran back to Quaero.

"Nice shot," said Shepard as she helped him to his feet. She passed him to Grunt, who supported Quaero.

"Don't mention it," said Quaero weakly.

Shepard looked at Grunt sternly who just grumbled and looked away. Shepard sighed and shook her head, "Since Grunt won't say it, I will. Thanks for saving his life."

Quaero looked at Grunt who was glaring at Shepard; he smiled under his mask and shook his head.

The team walked up to a console that was the control panel for the distress beacon, they passed the dead Blue Suns leader on the way.

Shepard typed into the console and turned to the pair, "Alright, let's go."

"That's it?" said Quaero, "All those troopers and two YMIR mechs just for a distress beacon?"

Shepard shrugged and started to walk away. Grunt dragged Quaero after her, when they passed the Blue Suns leader however Quaero pushed himself away from Grunt and staggered slightly.

Shepard turned and looked at Quaero. He bent down and picked up the leader's Revenant machine gun. Shepard smiled at him and he shrugged.

* * *

><p><strong>On the Normandy<strong>

Quaero sat in his room after getting treatment from Chakwas. He sat on his cot, eating his 11th tube of food paste, when Shepard walked in.

He looked up at her, "Hello, Shepard. What can I do for you?"

She remained in the doorway, "Do you have a minute?"

"Sure, Shepard," said Quaero gesturing over to the chair by his desk.

Shepard sat and said, "How do you feel?"

Quaero sat back on his cot, "Alright, it's never fun to get shot or pass out from exhaustion, but I'm recuperating."

"It must be tough being a biotic," commented Shepard.

"Yeah," said Quaero with a chuckle, "Especially since I am the only one out of all the Quarians."

"What?" shouted Shepard, "You're the only Quarian biotic?"

Quaero nodded, "Yep, there have been more in the past, but I am the first one in a few decades. It's rare for Quarians to become biotics."

"Why's that?" asked Shepard leaning back in her chair.

"Well our suits protect us from bacteria," explained Quaero, "they also protect us from a lot more, element zero included. In order for a Quarian to become a biotic, a pregnant female Quarian must be exposed to element zero out of their suits. Also whenever a Quarian is out of their suit, they're in a clean room that protects them from element zero as well. So, in order for a pregnant Quarian to get any element zero into their system, they must be in a clean room, out of their suit, during a mass relay jump when there is a burst from the element zero core. There are so many factors involved that you can understand why it's so rare."

Shepard's mouth was slightly open, her eyes narrowed, her mind was trying to piece that all together. She shook her head and decided to carry on the conversation, "On Earth, we have a facility that teaches humans who have biotic abilities how to use them. Is there anything like that on the Migrant Fleet?"

Quaero laughed, "I doubt they would set anything like that up just for me!"

Shepard shook her head smiling, "No, I mean who taught you how to use your biotics?"

"Oh," said Quaero, "Well it's a long story, you sure you want to hear it?"

Shepard nodded.

"Alright. When I was growing up on the Flotilla, there wasn't anybody around to teach me how to use my biotics. And there also weren't any biotic amps on the Flotilla, so my biotics were never any use growing up. When I left on my Pilgrimage, I was dropped off on Omega station, and I quickly lost all of my money and wasn't able to find work as a mechanic. Well I decided to take work with a Krogan mercenary battlemaster, basically as a pack mule. After a year of working for him, his pilot died and I took over as his pilot. We became close friends and he taught me how to fight and use my biotics."

"A Krogan battlemaster who knew biotics, huh?" said Shepard thinking that it sounded very familiar, "What was his name?"

"It was Sigant Maise… Why?" asked Quaero, confused.

"Oh, no reason," said Shepard quickly, "Please, continue."

"Well, eventually he became satisfied with my combat ability and I began to go on missions with him. Though one mission didn't go exactly as planned. It turned out that we were deceived by one of Maise's enemies. We were led right into a nest of Thresher Maws. I managed to escape with my life, he didn't." Quaero paused and looked down at the floor, after a small silence, he continued, "He was a good friend. I chose to avenge him. I spent the next few months taking revenge on the man who was responsible for Maise's death. After that I decided I wanted to protect people instead of hurt them. That's when I decided to go to Navis."

"Navis?" asked Shepard not familiar with the name.

"It's a planet in the Capulus system, it is a ship graveyard, its where I built the Nidus," said Quaero neutrally.

"What did you do during the rest of your Pilgrimage?" asked Shepard.

Quaero stretched, and said, "Perhaps another time, Shepard. I am still a little worn out from the mission."

"Alright," said Shepard, standing up, "I'll talk to you later, Quaero."

Shepard walked out of the room and left Quaero sitting alone. Quaero stood and walked to his locker. He began the slow arduous task of removing his armor. He set his metal rose and his mother's envirosuit scrap on his desk and opened his locker.

He pulled the Revenant machine gun he got from the Blue Suns base out of his locker and set it to the side to make room for his armor. Once he had finished removing his armor, he sat down on the bed and began cleaning the machine gun.


	7. Chapter 7: Nos Astra

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Ch. 7: Nos Astra **

Quaero woke to the sound of Shepard's voice over the intercom, "Everybody! We are on route to Nos Astra on Illium, ETA 17 hours GST. We have a lot of work to do there, including getting a new recruit for our team. Official mission details will be forwarded to team members who will be joining me on the mission. Everybody else will have shore leave until our business on Nos Astra is concluded. Thank you."

Quaero could hear cheering coming from the other room. Quaero smiled and sat up; suddenly his terminal started beeping signaling that he had a new message. Quaero stood and stretched. He hadn't had a very easy time getting to sleep since his cot was too small.

"Maybe I'll ask Shepard for a bigger cot," said Quaero to himself as he sat at his desk.

"Would you like me to ask Shepard for you?" said EDI.

Quaero sighed loudly, "No, EDI. That's okay, if I want one I'll ask her myself."

"Very well Mister Vega," said EDI.

Quaero sighed again and shook his head. He turned on his terminal and opened his inbox. He had three new messages, one from Shepard, one from Miranda, and one from an unknown source.

Quaero figured that the one from the unknown person was just junk mail. He ignored it for now and opened the one from Shepard, it read:

_To: Quaero_

_From: Shepard_

_Quaero_

_We're going to be helping Miranda out with a personal matter before going to get the new recruit. I would like you to come along, we are going to go do that first thing when we arrive in Nos Astra, be ready to go as soon as we arrive._

_Shepard_

Quaero deleted the message and opened the one from Miranda. It read:

_To: Quaero' Vega_

_From: XO, Operative Miranda Lawson_

_Crewmember Vega,_

_Please begin your work on the Kodiak shuttle today while we are on route to Nos Astra._

_Operative Lawson_

Quaero deleted the message from Miranda and shut off his terminal. He didn't bother reading the message from the unknown person. He stood and stretched again. He picked up his notebook and walked out of his room, going over the list of items he would need to upgrade the Kodiak.

Tali stood at her workstation, absently typing into her terminal. She was going over the results of scans of the engine, when she heard Quaero behind her, "Hey Tali."

She turned and it took a moment for her to speak, "Uh, hi Quaero. What can I do for you?"

"I need some tools to start work on the Kodiak," said Quaero looking down at a notebook in his hand. Tali's heart sank, she thought that he had come to talk with her, not ask her for tools.

Tali said, a little sadly, "Oh, sure… What do you need?"

Quaero listed a few tools and Tali grabbed a toolbox from under her work station. She handed the toolbox to Quaero and said, "Here, all the stuff you need should be in there."

Quaero stuck the box under his arm and called over his shoulder as he walked away, "Thanks Tali talk to you later."

Tali hung her head a little and turned back to her terminal. She sighed and continued her work.

* * *

><p><strong>Later in the Shuttle Hanger<strong>

Shepard stepped out of the elevator and into the hanger. She saw the Kodiak's door open and large sheets of metal being thrown out. Shepard walked up to the shuttle. She peeked inside and saw Quaero removing the metal sheets that plated the walls of the shuttle. Shepard cleared her throat loudly to get his attention.

He turned around and said, rather breathless, "Oh, hey Shepard."

Shepard stepped inside, "What are you doing?"

Quaero sat down on one of the seats and sighed loudly, he had obviously been working hard, "Just replacing the walls with some new ones that have heat sinks built in that can warm up the cabin if activated."

Shepard took a seat across from Quaero, "I didn't know we had anything like that."

Quaero chuckled, "We don't, but I'm going to fill out some requisition orders before heading to Nos Astra to get the proper sum of credits to buy the new walls."

"Did you get my message?" asked Shepard.

"Yeah, I am to go with you to assist Miranda with something," said Quaero.

"Correct," said Shepard.

"Just one question though," said Quaero, "Why me?"

Shepard leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees, "Because I know that you and Miranda don't get along."

"Then why not take someone like Jack," asked Quaero, who had spoken to Jack a little the previous night. It was clear that she had no love for Cerberus or Miranda.

"Because Jack really hates her, and she might compromise the mission," said Shepard, "You on the other hand might change your mind about Miranda; she isn't all business you know."

Quaero sighed, "Shepard knows best I suppose."

Shepard smiled and said, "I wanted to talk a little. Do you have a minute?"

"Sure Shepard," Quaero said with a sigh, "I need a break anyways. It's really flattering you know."

"What is?" asked Shepard with a smile.

"Well I've only been on the Normandy for a couple of days and you have talked to me every day since, it's flattering to have someone take so much interest in you," said Quaero with a chuckle.

Shepard laughed and said, "Well I came to talk with you because we hadn't finished our conversation yesterday. I want to know more about your Pilgrimage."

Quaero sat back, "You want to talk about that, okay Shepard."

"What did you do on Navis?" asked Shepard.

"I built the Nidus," said Quaero.

"Well, yeah," said Shepard frustrated, "But how? To my knowledge it would take a lot longer than seven years to build a ship alone."

"You would be right Shepard," said Quaero, with a laugh, "I had a bunch of Quarians working with me to build it."

"How many Quarians?" asked Shepard.

"About one hundred," said Quaero, "It started out as only 10, but over time more and more Quarians came to help us build it. All of them were on their Pilgrimages, trying to bring something great to the Migrant Fleet."

"The Admirals talked about you like a hero, but never mentioned anyone else, what happened to the other Quarians?" asked Shepard.

"They're… still on Navis," said Quaero quietly.

"All of them? But why? If they all wanted to help make something for the Migrant Fleet, then why stay on Navis?" asked Shepard very confused.

Quaero stood and started to remove more panels on the ship, without looking at Shepard he said, "Sorry, Shepard. But I really should get back to work before Miranda shoots me out of an airlock for being insubordinate."

Shepard stood and walked quickly out of the shuttle, she felt a little insulted that Quaero wouldn't trust her enough to tell her about this. Then again, he had only known her for a few days, it was safe to say that he didn't trust anybody on the Normandy. Except maybe for Tali. In order for Quaero to begin trusting Shepard, she would have to earn his trust.

* * *

><p><strong>On Illium, in the Nos Astra Shipping Center<strong>

Quaero lifted an Eclipse merc off of the ground, he then ducked behind a box to let Shepard shoot him with a concussive shot to send him flying. Quaero shot over the box with his new Revenant.

Quaero had come here to help Miranda find her sister, not fight hordes of mercs. Miranda said that the Eclipse were hired by her father to find her sister, and that some Niket was going to get her sister off of the planet.

Shepard didn't like the growing complexity of the mission but she trusted Miranda enough to believe that this Niket could be trusted. But Quaero didn't trust Niket, he didn't even trust Miranda. He trusted Shepard a little, but Quaero wouldn't go to the farthest reaches of the galaxy for her.

The main reason he was on the Normandy was for Tali. He swore to protect her.

A bullet flew past Quaero's head. He ducked instinctively and quickly popped out of cover and shot down an Eclipse trooper. Quaero repeated this process countless times until all the Eclipse were dead. He stood and placed his Revenant back onto his back. He turned and saw Miranda and Shepard running up to him. Miranda ran past him without as much as a glance, Shepard patted Quaero on the arm respectfully.

Quaero and Shepard started jogging to catch up to Miranda. There were huge stacks of crates all around them, something in the corner of Quaero's vision caught his eye.

A bright glint from the top of one of the towers of boxes, a sniper scope. Quaero looked at Miranda and saw a red dot on her neck. It could have been easily mistaken for a drop of blood, but Quaero could clearly see that it was moving. He was familiar with the sight.

Quaero rushed forward, running at full speed. He grabbed Miranda around her shoulders and turned her away from the sniper, protecting her with his own body. A bullet broke through Quaero's shield and hit his upper back. The projectile traveled straight through him but was stopped by the inside of his chest armor.

Quaero grunted in pain and dropped Miranda. He dropped to his hands and knees clutching at his chest with one hand. _"Really?"_ he thought, _"Three bullet wounds in a few days? I never had that many so quickly working for Maise. I'm starting to understand Shepard's reputation."_

Quaero rolled onto his side coughing. He predicted that the bullet hit him just above one of his hearts. He coughed roughly and started to inch his way toward some boxes. He looked over at Shepard who was shooting at the sniper with her own Mantis sniper rifle.

Shepard lowered her rifle after a time and ran to Quaero, she filled his bullet wounds with medi-gel and helped him to his feet. He stood on his own and coughed a little.

Miranda ran up to him and said with shocking affection in her voice, "You saved me. Thank you."

Quaero nodded and said, "It would have been a shame for you to die before seeing your sister again."

Miranda looked like she was about to cry, but she fought past it and walked briskly away. Shepard smiled at him and walked quickly after Miranda. Quaero inhaled deeply and jogged after the pair.

* * *

><p><strong>Later in Shipping Dock 94<strong>

The traitor Niket, lay dead on the ground, his body blown in half by Enyala's Claymore shotgun. Miranda stood, frozen in place, her widened eyes locked on the bloody mess that used to be her oldest friend. Suddenly her head shot up at the Eclipse commander Enyala.

"You'll die for that bitch!" Miranda screamed as she blew Enyala across the room with a powerful biotic blast.

Quaero ducked behind some boxes as Eclipse mercs ran out of the elevator across the room to their leader's aid. He sighed, he felt sorry for Miranda. Her oldest friend had betrayed her trust and sold out to her father. He had gotten what was coming to him, but Miranda was the first to try and kill him, Quaero was glad that Shepard had stopped her from killing Niket. It would have haunted Miranda for years.

Quaero leaned out of cover and fired at a shielded Eclipse commando. After her shield dropped he used a biotic warp to rip her in half. Quaero sat with his back against the crate. He grimaced and clutched at his chest. He could feel blood underneath his suit, the medi-gel wasn't enough to staunch the bleeding, he needed medical attention, and soon.

Quaero heard footsteps advancing on him and he drew his shotgun. When the volume of the footsteps told Quaero that the person was a few feet away, he quickly leaned out of his cover and blasted the Eclipse merc's legs. The Asari's legs flew out beneath her and she fell flat on her face, screaming in pain. Quaero quickly put the merc out of her misery, shooting her head with his shotgun. The reddish purple Asari blood sprayed onto Quaero.

He rolled onto his back and did a backwards somersault landing onto his feet. Enyala was now alone, her backup were all dead. She was blasting Shepard and Miranda's cover with her powerful shotgun. Quaero waited, he saw Miranda lean out of her cover briefly and fire a short burst from her Tempest submachine gun at Enyala.

Only a few bullets actually hit Enyala but they drew blood and that was Quaero's signal to use his biotics. Quaero used his biotic charge to fly over the boxes and gaps that separated Quaero and Enyala.

Quaero rammed into Enyala sending her flying into a pile of crates. She had managed to somehow hold onto her shotgun. Quaero walked quickly up to her as she weakly raised her shotgun. He deftly kicked it out of her hands and punched her in the head.

Quaero stepped back and called, "Hey, it's safe to come out now."

Miranda and Shepard stepped out and walked up to Quaero. Miranda walked past him again, her gaze not passing over him. This time however her eyes were locked on Enyala. She walked up to her and leveled her Predator heavy pistol with Enyala's head. She shot her in in between the eyes and walked quickly into the elevator.

* * *

><p><strong>Back in Nos Astra<strong>

Quaero stared at Miranda whose eyes were locked on Oriana. She had been staring for a while now, finally she turned to Shepard and said, "Let's go"

Shepard said with concern, "You… You don't want to talk to her?"

"No," said Miranda sadly, "It could bring undue attention to her, and…" Miranda looked at Oriana again. She turned back to Shepard, her eyes a little glassy, "She is better off not knowing about me. It'll only endanger her."

Shepard looked at Oriana then back at Miranda, after a long silence she said, "Okay, if you think that's best."

Shepard turned and walked back into the elevator and waited for Quaero and Miranda. Miranda looked back at Oriana and started to walk to the elevator. Quaero stopped her with a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Quaero looked down at Miranda, who looked up at him with tears building in her eyes. He nodded over at Oriana, and said, "Would it really hurt that much for Oriana to know about you. To know that she has a sister who loves her."

Miranda looked back at Oriana and said with a slight smirk, "I guess not…"

As Miranda started to walk over to Oriana and her family, Shepard stepped out of the elevator and stood next to Quaero. She looked up at him and said, "See, I told you that you'd have a change of heart."

"Yeah…" said Quaero a little absently. Shepard looked up at Quaero, who was clutching at his chest. She saw that his white and black cloth had an expanding red stain on it. He slumped back against the wall and coughed roughly.

Shepard quickly grabbed his arm to prevent him from collapsing. She said panicked, "We have to get you medical attention!"

She started to pull Quaero away, but Quaero pushed Shepard away and sat down on the ground he nodded his head over at Oriana and Miranda and said weakly, "Wait until she's finished…"

Shepard looked over at Miranda, who was laughing, and then back down at Quaero, whose chest was rising slowly, and whose white cloth was soaked with blood. Shepard sighed loudly and kneeled next to Quaero, adding an extra dose of medi-gel to Quaero's wounds. She sat down next to him and looked down at her knees, mentally begging Miranda to hurry up.

* * *

><p><strong>10 Minutes Later<strong>

Miranda walked slowly around the low waist high wall that led her to the elevator. She had a wide smile on her face, one that she had trouble getting off. She had just finished talking with Oriana and was walking back to the elevator where Shepard and Quaero waited.

When she first turned around to walk back to Shepard and Quaero, she hadn't seen them, but when she looked closer she saw the top of Quaero's head and shoulders leaning against the wall, the rest of his body obscured by the low wall.

Miranda was very grateful to both Shepard, for helping her save her sister, and to Quaero, who also helped in saving her sister and got her to introduce herself. She would have to thank both of them personally. She turned the corner so she was directly in front of Quaero and Shepard. Shepard jumped to her feet and started to run at Miranda. Miranda realized something was wrong and looked over at Quaero, who wasn't moving and was sitting in a small pool of blood.

Miranda started to run to Quaero, Shepard ran to her side and started to run back to Quaero, she yelled at Miranda as she ran, "What took you so long! That sniper round that hit him earlier was a lot worse than we thought! We need to get him back to Chakwas!"

Miranda and Shepard ran up to Quaero, who had lost consciousness. Miranda picked up his feet, while Shepard hefted his bloody torso. He weighed at least 400 to 500 pounds fully-armored with all of his weapons. Shepard and Miranda struggled to lift him, he was too heavy for the two of them and they were forced to put him back onto the ground. Even with Miranda's genetic improvements to her strength and Shepard's decade of military exercise and cybernetic implants, they still couldn't carry him.

"What are we going to do?" Shepard asked to nobody in particular, "he's too heavy to carry, and we can't get the shuttle to come pick us up because he was working on it!"

"What was he doing to the shuttle?" asked Miranda weighing their options.

"He was tearing the walls off of the insides when I last checked," said Shepard, calming herself down.

"That shouldn't affect flight, as long as he didn't do anything else to it then we can get someone to come pick us up," said Miranda.

Shepard wasted no time, she stood and raised a hand to her ear, "EDI! Send the shuttle to my coordinates, Quaero is badly injured," Shepard said into her communicator.

"Apologies Shepard, but the shuttle is unable to be flown, due to the fact that Crewmember Vega has removed the drive core to make improvements to the shuttle's shield systems," said EDI.

"Dammit!" yelled Shepard, getting a few people's attention, they brought hands to their mouths in shock at the sight of the prone Quarian.

"Would you like me to contact a hospital and bring an ambulance to your position?" asked EDI.

"Yes! Do it!" yelled Shepard into her communicator.

Suddenly Quaero coughed violently, and gasped for air. Miranda placed her hands on his chest to prevent him from thrashing around too much, she said, "Shh.. its okay, you're going to be fine, help is on the way."

Shepard kneeled next to them and supported Quaero's head. Quaero turned his head slightly and looked at Miranda, "How did your talk with Oriana go?"

Miranda smiled gratefully and said, "Very good, she's very funny, something we don't have in common. She's also very talented, she plays the violin."

Quaero looked up at the sky, "Good, good. I'm glad."

Quaero's vision blurred then darkened, the last thing he saw was the silky brown of Miranda's hair, the glistening black of Shepard's hair, and finally the beautiful purple sky of Illium at sunset, which reminded Quaero of Tali.


	8. Chapter 8: Double Heartbeat

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Ch. 8: Double Heartbeat**

_Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep…_

The sound of his heartbeat. Quaero knew it was his. His hearts were in perfect rhythm. When one heart paused, the other would beat. To the untrained ear his heartbeat would sound fast. But to an experienced physician, it would sound just like the heartbeat of a Krogan. The heartbeat of a Krogan, not a Quarian.

Quaero opened his eyes slightly, his vision was very blurry, but he could make out the hazy shapes of people, doctors, walking quickly around the room. Quaero could see that he wasn't on the Normandy. He remembered that he was on Nos Astra. He must be in a Nos Astra hospital.

Quaero's vision cleared but the people remained hazy, he looked around and saw that he was in an environment controlled bubble. This reminded him of his childhood. But as a child, he would have been exposed to bacteria on purpose, to further the Admiral's plans. Here he was safe. Quaero closed his eyes.

* * *

><p><em>Quaero stood head and shoulders over everyone else. The line to requisitions was very long, but he was almost to the front. Finally it was his turn to get his equipment. Quaero bent over to meet eyes with the requisitions officer, who wasn't looking at him.<em>

_Quaero's smile finally faded. Didn't this man care that he was giving the supplies that many young Quarians depended on during their Pilgrimages?_

"_Name?" said the officer, still looking down at a data pad._

"_Quaero' Vega nar…"_

"_Nar Rayya, I know. Everybody else here is nar Rayya," said the officer, frustrated._

"_S-Sorry," said an 18 year old Quaero._

_The officer stood and walked around to a shelf. He lifted a small cloth sack that jingled with items off of the shelf. He walked back to Quaero and handed the sack to him through the small opening in the metal grate. _

_Quaero strapped the bag to his back and waited for the officer to return to him with three more objects: An omni-tool, a credit-chit, and a pistol. Quaero took these items gleefully. These were his. His to own, his to use. They were a gift from the Migrant Fleet. He swore to return the favor._

"_Thank you very much," said Quaero extending a hand through the grate._

_The officer looked up at him for the first time and shook Quaero's hand. The officer said with a strange tone in his voice, "Keelah se' lai."_

_Quaero quickly walked away from the officer toward the shuttle gates. Quaero could swear that he could see a tear in the officer's eye as Quaero shook his hand._

_Quaero knew that the officer was happy for Quaero, that he was honored to have the greatest job on the Flotilla, handing out the things needed to survive._

_Quaero stood in the transit hub of the Rayya, looking at a long list of shuttles numbers and gates. He found his: Shuttle Number 4412, Dock 42, Destination Omega Station, Departure in 45 minutes GST._

_Quaero ran to his dock and sat on a rail as he waited for his shuttle to begin boarding. Quaero looked around him, at the many young Quarians, who, like him, waited for the shuttle to begin boarding. But they waited differently than he did._

_They were saying goodbyes to their families, to their friends. They talked with happiness in their voices, with hints of sadness at leaving their loved ones. Quaero looked enviously. He had no family to say goodbye to, the Admirals had abandoned his project and him, and he had no friends, everybody hated him for being different. Except one person._

"_Quaero!" called a high voice from the end of the hall._

_Quaero looked up, and saw the only person that ever spoke his name with any affection in their voice. Tali. Quaero pushed himself off the rail and turned to Tali, who was running down the hall at him._

_Once Tali was within talking distance, he said, "Hey Ta…"_

_He was interrupted by the shock of her hug. Quaero looked down at Tali who had her arms locked around his waist, her head buried in his chest. _

_She said with a voice shaken by sobs, "Quaero! Keelah, don't go!" _

_Quaero placed his hands on Tali's shoulders and gently pushed her head off of his chest so that he could look her in the eyes, "I have to Tali, it's my time."_

_Tali turned away from him and said, "Then go!"_

"_Tali…" said Quaero, hurt, "I thought you'd be happy for me…"_

_Tali looked back at Quaero, her eyes met his, he could see tears flowing from her eyes. She looked away quickly and ran away from Quaero._

_Quaero sat on the rail again and smiled, she was happy for him._

_Quaero stood in the cramped shuttle as it traveled to Omega Station. Quaero inched his way to the cockpit of the shuttle where the only window was. He stepped inside and stood next to the pilot's chair. _

_Quaero looked down at the pilot, who didn't meet his gaze, then back up at Omega Station. It was unlike anything Quaero had ever seen before; it was so different, and so beautiful._

"_It's beautiful, huh?" said Quaero with awe in his voice._

_Quaero heard a sniff from the pilot; he looked down at her and saw a tear roll down her cheek. Quaero looked back up at Omega; he knew the pilot was happy for him too. That she was honored to deliver young Quarians onto their Pilgrimages. _

_The shuttle docked with Omega and the Quarians filed out of the shuttle, all except for Quaero who waited for everybody to leave._

_Once everyone was gone, the pilot looked up at him with tears flowing from her eyes like waterfalls. Quaero smiled under his mask and said, "Thank you."_

_The pilot collapsed onto her controls and sobbed uncontrollably. Quaero turned and exited the shuttle._

_The first thing he saw was a dead Quarian on the ground, with a human standing over her, with a credit chit in his hand and a pistol in the other._

_That was when Quaero realized that the people who had been happy for him: the requisitions officer, Tali, and the pilot, weren't actually happy for him. They felt sorry for him. The officer and the pilot felt guilty for sending him to his death. And Tali was sad that this was probably the last time she would ever see Quaero…_

* * *

><p><em>Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep…<em>

Quaero woke to the sound of his heartbeat. He was still alive. The sound was different, however. He opened his eyes slightly and was blinded by bright lights. He kept them open, however and stared around him. As his vision adjusted and cleared, he discovered that he lay on a bed in the Normandy's Med-bay.

His eyes searched the room, he found Chakwas, in a hazmat suit, reading a data pad. He tried to call to her, but he lacked the strength to even speak. He looked down at himself and saw that he had no suit on. A sheet was all that protected him from the world around him.

Quaero looked up at the window that led to the main Crew Deck. He saw blurry shapes moving about outside. But one caught his attention. Tali stood with her hands pressed up against the glass window. Quaero and Tali met each other's gaze. Quaero saw Tali rush toward the entrance of the Med-bay.

Suddenly Quaero's strength failed him and his vision blackened.

The last thing Quaero heard was the sound of the door to the Med-bay opening, and Tali shouting, "Quaero!"

Followed by Chakwas' shouts of, "No! He's not in his suit!"

* * *

><p><em>Quaero kneeled next to a pile of broken machinery and sifted through it looking for something of value. Sharp metal poked at his arms, but his suit protected him. <em>

_Suddenly a deep gravelly voice come from behind him, "Hey punk! This is our turf! Get the fuck off!"_

_A swift kick to the ribs caused Quaero to flip over onto his back, he saw two tall gray humans with four eyes and holes in their faces glaring at him. No, not humans. Batarians, wearing Blue Suns armor._

_Quaero kicked one of their legs as hard as he could. The Batarian cried in pain and hopped up and down on one leg, the other gripped Quaero's throat and hissed into his face, "You'll die for that…"_

_Quaero took the beating that the two Batarians gave him, protecting his mask with his arms. They violently kicked him and battered him with their guns. Suddenly there was a huge bang and the beating ceased. _

_Quaero took his arms off of his mask slightly to see the blood spattered face of one of the Batarians in front of him. Quaero looked down to the Batarian's stomach which had a gaping hole in it. _

_Quaero looked up to see the other Batarian hitting a huge Krogan in the face. The Krogan had white skin and a black head plate, a sight that Quaero had never seen before. A small piece of his head plate was chipped off, and the left side of his face was badly scarred from shrapnel; his lips on the left side were missing and his teeth were exposed, also his eye looked like it had taken damage from the shrapnel as well. His armor was a white suit, with heavy black armor plating over it. His armor was scarred with bullets and scorches._

_The Krogan laughed loudly and started to glow with a blue aura. The Krogan threw his hand into the Batarian's stomach; the Batarian flew 20 feet away into a pile of scrap metal. The Batarian leaned his head up and coughed up blood, a sharp metal pole was sticking out of his chest. His head lolled back, and he didn't move anymore._

_The Krogan laughed loudly and walked up to Quaero, he said with a deep gravelly voice, which reminded Quaero of an old man's voice, "You okay kid?"_

_Quaero stood to his feet and nodded. The Krogan looked at him with black eyes, "Humph, big kid."_

_The Krogan started to walk away, taking long heavy strides. He picked up two large packs off of the ground as he passed them, Quaero ran after him and walked next to him, "Thank you for saving me, those Batarians would have killed me."_

_The Krogan looked over at him briefly and said, "Don't mention it."_

_The Krogan walked a little faster, but Quaero kept up, "It's just that everyone has treated me like garbage so far, I don't think I've met a single person who would give a damn enough to save me."_

_The Krogan turned a corner into a docking bay and said, "That's too bad."_

_Quaero continued to follow him, until he reached an airlock with a door code on it. Quaero looked out of a window of the airlock at the ship that it was docked with; a small corvette class starship that looked like it could be maintained by a crew of five people. The ship was a dirty red color, with large white words written on the side: Soturi._

_The Krogan typed a code into the keypad and turned to look at Quaero, he said, "Hey kid. You want a job?"_

_Quaero was shocked but happy, he said excitedly, "Sure!"_

_The Krogan threw one of the large and heavy packs, filled with weapons and armor, to Quaero. Quaero caught it but staggered a little under its weight. _

_The Krogan chuckled and said, "Carry that."_

_Quaero lifted the pack onto his shoulder and motioned with his free arm for the Krogan to pass him the other pack. The Krogan looked at him with surprise on his face; he smiled and tossed him the other pack, Quaero caught it without staggering and lifted it under his arm. The Krogan nodded at him, "What's your name kid?"_

"_Quaero' Vega nar Rayya," said Quaero._

"_Name's Sigant Maise," the Krogan said, he motioned for Quaero to go inside his ship, "Welcome to my krantt." _

* * *

><p><em>Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep…<em>

Quaero opened his eyes again. Quaero could hear something else behind his heartbeat, voices. Shepard and Chakwas' voices. He looked around and found them talking at the foot of his bed, wearing hazmat suits. He tried to speak, but couldn't, so he just listened.

"…must be why he hasn't died," said Chakwas.

"I'd imagine so," said Shepard.

"That would explain many of the odd things that I found during my examination," said Chakwas.

"Like what?"

"Well he has two hearts for one thing, and his wounds have healed far faster than any I've ever seen before from anyone other than a Krogan," said Chakwas. She continued, "Also…"

Chakwas was looking at Quaero, whose eyes were open. Shepard looked over at Quaero and her mouth opened slightly. They both rushed to Quaero's head, one on each side of his bed.

"Quaero!" Shepard said excitedly, "Are you okay?"

Quaero again tried to speak, but his strength failed him again. His vision blurred, and then faded to black.

* * *

><p><em>Quaero sat on a small warm generator inside the rusty remains of a ship. He had gone off to look for this generator for the Nidus hours ago, but he had become preoccupied. He gently folded some scrap metal in his hands, trying to get it to look exactly how he wanted it to look. There were failed attempts lying around his feet.<em>

_Finally, Quaero lifted the small metal flower up to his mask for him to inspect closely. It was perfect, he had gotten it perfect. Quaero smiled under his mask. He knew she would love this. Quaero stood and lifted the generator under his arm._

_As Quaero walked he noticed an unusually large black plume of smoke, unusually close. There were always fires burning on Navis. But none were this close. _

_Quaero walked closer and closer to the smoke, the path to it seemed horrifyingly familiar. He walked faster and faster until he broke out into a run dropping the generator behind him. He clutched at the metal flower in his hand._

_Quaero climbed a tall pile of junk, the last thing that stood in between him and the smoke. He reached the top and he felt a chill that ran all the way down to his soul, even though the fires burned hotter than hell itself. Quaero fell to his knees, and stared at the flames._

_The small metal rose slipped out of his limp hand onto a sheet of metal so rusted, that it almost looked like the color of blood._


	9. Chapter 9: Belladonna

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Author's Note: Sorry this is a redo of my previous chapter. I forgot to add an important part to it.**

**Ch. 9: Belladonna**

_Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep…_

Quaero woke to the familiar sound again. But he didn't feel weak like he was before. He felt completely rejuvenated. Quaero sat up in his bed and a sharp pain shot from his chest and back. He grimaced and gripped at his chest. Quaero felt his own skin for the first time in years.

Quaero's skin was smooth and very soft. Quaero lifted his hand and touched his face. He wanted to learn as much about his face as he could before he had to put his mask back on.

Quaero looked around him at the Med-bay and saw Chakwas sitting across the room at her usual desk. She was in a hazmat suit. Suddenly, Chakwas turned and stood, when she caught sight of Quaero sitting up, she ran to his side.

"You're awake!" Chakwas said excitedly, "Shepard will be so glad to hear it! She's been here every day to check on you."

Quaero leaned back on the bed so that Chakwas could examine him. He said, "Is that so?"

"Yes," said Chakwas as she checked his heart monitor, "She decided to post-pone getting the new recruit until you were better."

"Really?" Quaero said shocked, "How long was I out?"

"Five days," said Chakwas.

Quaero groaned and covered his face in his hands. Chakwas walked across the room and pulled Quaero's envirosuit out of a locker. She placed it on his bed and started to leave the room.

But before she could Quaero called to her, "Excuse me Chakwas!"

Chakwas turned, "Yes?"

"Could…" Quaero paused and looked at his mask that sat on top of his suit, "Could I borrow a mirror?"

Chakwas stood, looking at him for a minute, before saying, "Of course, Quaero."

Quaero stared at his bed and listened as Chakwas rummaged through a cabinet.

"Quaero?" Quaero looked up at Chakwas, who was holding a mirror in her hands.

Quaero took it and raised it to his face. This was the first time he had ever seen his own face.

It was tall, slender and expressive. He had a very angular jaw and pointed chin. His cheeks were very gaunt and his cheek bones were quite defined. His eyes were small and angled. And his nose was very tall but rather flat. His mouth was strange, his lips were full and his mouth wasn't very wide. Quaero smiled to look at his teeth, which were white and straight. Quaero thought he had a nice smile. Quaero ran a hand over his head, which was hairless. This was due to the time that they spent in their suits. Quarians used to have hair, but now their bodies didn't grow hair.

Quaero handed the mirror back to Chakwas. Smiling, he said, "Thank you. I've never seen my face before."

Chakwas took the mirror back without a response and left the room. Quaero stood and began to put his suit back on.

* * *

><p>Quaero held his mask in his hands and faced away from the entrance to the Med-bay. Quaero breathed in deeply before placing his mask back over his face.<p>

Just as his mask locked into place, he heard the door open behind him. Even before he could turn around he felt arms wrap around his stomach. He looked down and saw they were gloved and had three fingers.

He could hear Tali, sobbing slightly as she embraced him. Quaero gently pulled her hands away from his stomach and turned around so that he could hug her back. Tali buried her head into his chest and continued to sob.

Quaero held her tightly and said comfortingly, "Tali, it's okay. I'm fine."

Without looking up at him she said, "Quaero, I'm so happy you're okay."

Quaero sighed and pulled himself away from her slightly, "It's going to take a lot more than that to kill me."

Quaero looked up from Tali as the door to the Med-bay opened again, this time Shepard entered followed by Garrus and Miranda. Tali moved away from Quaero and faced the newcomers.

"Quaero," said Shepard, "It's good to see you up."

"Thanks," said Quaero, "But I couldn't leave Garrus alone."

Garrus and Shepard laughed, Garrus said, "Yeah, who else would I eat with?"

Shepard laughed and Garrus said, "Well it's good to see you're okay Quaero, but if you'll excuse me, I have a bunch of calibrations with my name on it."

Garrus walked out of the Med-bay, Tali looked at Quaero and said, "I should be going too. But I'll come by later so we can talk… If you want…"

"Sure, I'll see you later Tali," said Quaero. Tali left the Med-bay in a hurry, leaving Quaero alone with Shepard and Miranda.

"Quaero," said Miranda, Quaero was surprised that she used his first name, "I just wanted to thank you for… you know helping me with my sister."

Quaero nodded and extended a hand for Miranda to shake. Miranda looked at his hand for a second, and then she quickly brushed past it and gave Quaero a gentle hug.

Quaero looked down Miranda, and then up to Shepard, who looked equally surprised at Miranda's gesture. Miranda released Quaero and stepped back, she said, "You're exempt from your work duties until you've recovered. Get some rest, maybe I'll come by later so that we can chat."

Miranda left the Med-bay, walking quickly. Quaero was speechless but he shook himself out of it. Shepard looked at Quaero after Miranda had left; she had a look of confused shock on her face.

"Hm, that was weird," said Shepard.

"What a strange person," said Quaero.

"Strange?" asked Shepard.

"Yeah," Quaero said watching Miranda through the window of the Med-bay as she walked into her office, "I mean she hated me up until I helped with her sister."

"Well that was a big thing that you did you know," said Shepard.

Quaero shrugged and started walking toward the exit, he said over his shoulder to Shepard, "Well, I'm going down to my quarters now, come by so we can chat if you want."

* * *

><p><strong>Later in Engineering<strong>

Quaero walked down to the entrance to his quarters, he nodded to Jack as he passed and opened the door to his room. He stepped inside and was surprised to see Tali sitting on his cot.

Tali looked up at him and said quietly, "Hi Quaero."

"Tali?" said Quaero as he sat next to her on the cot, "When you said that you'd come by later, I thought that it'd be later than this."

"Oh," Tali said, embarrassed, "I'll go if you want…"

"No, it's okay, we can talk now," Quaero said laughing a little.

"Ok…" Tali said looking down at her lap.

A short silence followed, ended by Quaero asking, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Um…" Tali thought for a second, "Nothing in particular."

Tali turned and picked up something next to her. She raised it so Quaero could see.

"What's this?"

It was Quaero's metal flower. Quaero moved slightly, as if he wanted to attack Tali to take it back. But he stayed still.

"Please, put that back…"

Tali looked surprised, almost frightened. She quickly stood and placed the flower on Quaero's desk. She sat back down on the cot looking at her lap again.

Tali couldn't believe her foolishness. Of course something like that was precious to him. Silence followed for a long time. Finally Quaero spoke.

"It was a gift…"

Tali looked up at him, "A gift from who?"

Quaero was looking at the floor, "No, I was going to give it someone."

Tali remembered Kelly talking about that before. Kelly had once received a flower from a boy who liked her. Tali felt her heart get crushed. Did Quaero want to give it to a girl who he liked?

"Why didn't you ever give it to her?" asked Tali.

"She… left before I could give it to her," Quaero said, a little sadly.

Tali felt her hatred for this woman growing, even though she had never met her.

"Did… did you love her?"

Quaero looked up at Tali for a second then back down at the floor, "Yes I did."

Now Tali were sure, she hated this woman.

"Did she love you?"

Quaero looked back up at Tali then back down at the floor, he sighed deeply and said, "I don't know. I don't think so. Maybe?"

Tali took on an angry tone, "So was that flower your confession of love to her?"

Quaero continued to look at the floor, "Yeah it was. I wasn't ever able to tell her in words. So I made her that."

"What was her name?"

"Camena' Spatii nar Infantia," Quaero said looking up and without needing to think very hard on it, he sighed deeply after saying it.

Tali stood and quickly walked out of the room without saying goodbye. She quickly walked up the stairs and back to her work station; she wanted to use work to get her mind off of what she had just heard.

Quaero sighed and lay back on his bed. He stretched his back a little and heard a few satisfying pops. He exhaled and closed his eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>Later<strong>

Quaero woke to the sound of his door opening. He looked up and saw that it was Shepard.

"Oh sorry were you sleeping?" Shepard said, a little embarrassed, "I can come back later."

Quaero sat up, "No it's fine I was probably sleeping too long anyways.

"Oh ok," said Shepard, relaxing a bit, "Do you have a minute."

"Sure," Quaero scooted over on the cot and patted the spot next to him. Shepard sat and leaned against the wall.

"This cot looks a little small for you," Shepard said seriously.

Quaero smiled and said, "Yeah, just a little."

"Want me to get you a new one?" asked Shepard.

"If it's not too much trouble," Quaero said smiling.

Shepard shifted in her seat, she had a stern look on her face, "So, what were you and Tali talking about she seemed rather upset."

Quaero was confused, "Upset? Really?"

Shepard nodded, still holding the stern look on her face, "Yes, she seemed almost angry. She didn't want to talk to me and told me to talk to you. I assumed that something you said might've upset her."

"What!" Quaero's eyes widened, "I would never say anything to upset her!"

Shepard shook her head, "Maybe you did it unintentionally. What did you talk about?"

Quaero nodded over to his desk, "About that."

"The flower?"

"Yeah, she was curious about it so I told her."

Shepard stood and walked over to Quaero's desk and picked up the metal flower. Quaero flinched a little, but stayed sitting on the cot. Shepard turned and lifted the flower.

"What is it? You said it was a gift, who for?"

"It was a gift for the first woman I loved," Quaero said.

Shepard looked at the flower, "Did you tell Tali that?"

"Yeah, she was more interested in the woman than the flower, really…"

Shepard shook her head and put the flower back on the desk. She turned back to Quaero. She couldn't believe how naïve he was. She sighed and sat back down next to Quaero.

"It would be better for you to talk to her, but for now why don't we talk about how you and Tali met," Shepard said.

Quaero laughed a little and said, "You really have a skill for picking long stories Shepard."

Shepard smiled and said, "I have time."

"Ok. Well, when I was a kid I didn't have any parents. I was taken care of by the Admirals in a sort of daycare facility on the Rayya. But when I six, they abandoned my project. There was a vote for the Admiralty on what should happen to me, should I die, or should I live. It was a two-two tie, Admirals Daro' Xen and Shala' Raan voted to let me live, Admirals Zaal' Koris and Rael' Zorah voted for me to die. The deciding vote came to the late Admiral Dura' Senex. He was an old, old very cruel old man. Just before he put in his vote he died. He was replaced by Admiral Han' Gerral, one of the greatest men I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. He had the deciding vote. He voted for me to live. However, they voted for me to live, that's it. They didn't arrange any living situation for me, any food, nothing. They put me out on the 'streets' and left me, basically to die."

"Wait! Rael' Zorah, Tali's father, voted to have you killed?" Shepard exclaimed.

Quaero nodded, "Yes, but don't tell Tali that! She would get very emotional!"

"Anyways, go on."

"Well, I pulled through until I was nine, that's when I started to do work detail. That's also when I got the attention of Rael' Zorah. Apparently he was impressed that I managed to survive on my own for three years then get work detail on my own. So he took me in as his personal courier, I would carry project plans, tech, but mostly ship schematics. I would often walk very slowly, so that I could read the schematics. That's how I became so proficient with ship systems and how I designed one myself.

"Anyways, back to Tali. So I met her when Rael had to go work and her mother wasn't feeling well and had to go to the medical wing. Well Rael asked me to watch her. This was when I was about ten, so she was around seven. She didn't know her mother was sick, so all I had to do was distract her. We played games and eventually I found out that she liked tech and stuff, so I let her take apart a light fixture. Well it ended with me getting electrocuted and falling unconscious. Eventually I came around, and Rael was there. Keelah he was angry at me! He fired me as his courier and punished Tali severely

"Tali seemed to think it was her fault that I got electrocuted and fired from my job. So we spent a lot of time together afterwards trying to make it up to one another for getting each other in trouble. Things kind of escalated from there until we were inseparable for the next eight years."

Shepard sat back, and sighed. Quaero laughed, "Sorry, I told you it was a long story."

Shepard smiled and stood, "It was nice talking to you, Quaero."

"See you Shepard."

* * *

><p><strong>Later<strong>

Tali stretched and sighed. She looked over at Ken and Gabby.

"I'm going to get some food. I'll be back soon."

"Don't forget to bring some for your friend down stairs," Ken said with a grin, "Rumor has it you want to dock with his special ship."

"Kenneth! Shh!" Gabby said punching Ken in the arm.

Tali walked away quickly, blushing under her mask a little. She walked into the small room that held one of the stairwells to the lower levels of engineering and almost collided with Miranda.

"Keelah! Sorry Miranda," Tali said as she stumbled a step back.

"Watch your step Miss Zorah," Miranda said coldly as she began to walk down the stairs to the lower levels of the engineering deck.

Tali began to walk away, but she did a double take as she realized where Miranda was going. There were only two people down there, Jack and Quaero. Miranda would definitely not be going down to talk to Jack. That left only one person for Miranda to talk to. Quaero. After Miranda had gone down the stairs, Tali followed as stealthily as she could. Tali peeked around the corner and saw Miranda walk into Quaero's room. Tali lost all strength in her legs, and she sat down on the stairs, fighting back sobs.

* * *

><p>Quaero was doing pushups when he heard the door to his room open. He looked up and saw tall black boots and shapely legs. He smiled and continued doing pushups.<p>

"Hello Miranda, how can I help you?"

Miranda sat on the cot, and Quaero stood and faced Miranda. She looked Quaero in the eyes.

"I suppose we should talk," said Miranda.

She shifted in her seat and looked at Quaero with a melancholy expression. She continued, "I don't know what this is… I-If this is stress or just blowing off steam or…"

Quaero's eyes narrowed in confusion, "What is?"

Miranda stood and walked around Quaero, fairly closely.

"This is no time for emotional entanglement! What idiotic bunch of hormones thought that this was a good time for love?"

Quaero's eyes narrowed even more, his confusion was reaching its apex, "Wuh?"

She stepped close to Quaero and said, as she caressed his chest fondly, "This mission is too important for emotional involvement."

Without another word she walked out of Quaero's room. Quaero stood, with his mouth open. He looked down at the floor, thinking. Suddenly he shook his head and shrugged. He got down onto the floor and continued his pushups.

Quaero said in between pushups, "Humans are weird."

* * *

><p>Tali still sat on the stairs, staring at Quaero's room. Suddenly the door opened and Miranda stepped out. She completely ignored Jack as she showed Miranda her middle finger, and turned and walked towards Tali.<p>

Miranda didn't look surprised that Tali sat there. Miranda flashed a smile at Tali as she passed. Tali whispered under her breath, "Bish' tet."

* * *

><p>Quaero was punching the wall, an exercise that Maise taught him, when his terminal started beeping. Quaero walked up to his terminal and opened his inbox. He had two new messages from the unknown source. Quaero opened the first message, the one he didn't read before he helped Miranda. It read:<p>

_To: Quaero' Vega_

_From: Public Extranet Terminal #342456, User: Guest_

_Nomad_

_I'm close to the pirates. I've been following some leads on them and I'm close. When I find them, I'll give you a meeting location._

_Belladonna_

Quaero was gripping the sides of the screen firmly; his face was very close to the screen. He quickly opened the next message, it read:

_To: Quaero' Vega_

_From: Public Extranet Terminal #477681, User: Guest_

_Nomad_

_I'm on Illium, speak with Liara T'Soni, she will tell you my location. I want to help you with this one, just like old times._

_Belladonna_

Quaero was standing now; he had knocked his chair over onto the floor. He was shaking slightly in anticipation. He had a smile underneath his mask; he was finally going to get them. Quaero was about to walk away, but he realized there was another message from Belladonna, it read:

_To: Quaero' Vega_

_From: Public Extranet Terminal #211989, User: Guest_

_Nomad_

_Cacete the Corpse Eater is still alive._

_Belladonna_

Quaero was gripping the sides of the screen very hard. Suddenly the screen shattered under the pressure. Quaero glowed with a blue aura and objects were floating around the room. Then Quaero's metal flower floated past his face and he gentle grasped it. Everything else in the room crashed to the floor and Quaero was holding the flower gently in his hands.

"Camena, I've found him."


	10. Chapter 10: The Nomad and the Flower

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Author's Note: I'm very happy with all of the attention my story has gotten. Please review and tell me your thoughts. Positive and negative feedback is welcome. If you have any questions PM them to me and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks to everybody who have reviewed, and to everyone else: Thanks for reading!**

**Ch. 10: Nomad and the Flower**

Quaero pulled another seat out of the Kodiak's interior. He had been working furiously for days. Quaero bolted the new leather seat into the frame and took a deep breath. It had been a week since Quaero had gotten the messages from Belladonna and Quaero had had trouble figuring out what he should do.

He was conflicted between two solutions: Leaving the Normandy on his own and going with Belladonna to get the pirates on their own, then returning later to rejoin Shepard's crew, or simply asking Shepard for help. He didn't know if asking Shepard would be a good idea, since the mission was so important and all.

Shepard had been off with Samara and Tali getting the new recruit. They had been gone for a long time around eight hours.

Quaero stepped outside of the Kodiak and looked at its new improvements. It had new quadruple plating armor, front mounted particle beam cannons, and a far more powerful kinetic barrier. The overall shape remained the same; the only visible difference to the exterior was its new paint job, it had more black on it now, and Quaero had removed the Cerberus logo on the sides.

Quaero stepped inside and sat down on the comfortable leather seat. The inside was dark; Quaero had to sacrifice lighting fixtures to improve energy efficiency and power distribution. The new black leather seats were fitted for individual people, rather than the old uncomfortable benches, there were ten seats total. Quaero had also added in the new walls that could heat up the cabin as well as cool it, just like he told Shepard.

Quaero had also installed a new VI, navigation systems, and flight controls. Quaero's favorite addition was a door mounted Dragon's Breath Gatling Turret with two connected multi-barrel miniguns that fired simultaneously. Each gun fired at 6,000 rounds per minute and could fire disruptor, cryo, incendiary, explosive, shredder, or armor-piercing rounds. It was the most expensive one he could buy.

The turret is stored under the floor in a small compartment. The turret can also fire constantly for a full seven minutes before overheating, due to a collection of heat sinks that constantly expel heat and cool the guns.

The guns were currently stored in the compartment. Quaero hadn't shown the upgrades to anybody yet, because nobody had come to visit him, which Quaero found was a little surprising.

Suddenly a small square pedestal rose up from the floor in the middle of the cabin. EDI's image appeared on the pedestal, Quaero had almost forgotten that he had installed that.

"Mister Vega…" EDI began.

"Please stop calling me that, just Quaero," Quaero said exasperatedly, he hated how polite AIs were.

"Very well, Quaero. I have a transmission from Shepard for you, would you like me to patch her through?"

Quaero sat forward, "Yes, patch her through."

Shepard's voice filled the cabin, shouts and gunfire could be heard clearly in the background.

"_Quaero! We need evac! Eclipse Mercs have cornered us in the penthouse! Is the shuttle ready yet?" _

"Yeah, all I had left to do was some calibrations," Quaero said.

"_Goddammit! I'm tired of hearing that! Just get the shuttle down here and let that be your calibrations!" _

Quaero smiled and started up the shuttle, he said as he exited the shuttle, "I'll be there Shepard. ETA ten minutes."

* * *

><p><strong>Minutes Later<strong>

Quaero sat in the cockpit of the Kodiak, piloting it as it sped through Nos Astra, towards Dantius Towers. Quaero flew to the taller one; it was just before dawn and in the low light he could see muzzle flashes coming from a room at the top floor.

Quaero pressed the communications button and said, "Shepard, it's Quaero, we're almost at Dantius Towers. I can see gunfire on the top floor of the taller tower, please confirm."

Quaero released the button and Shepard's voice came in over the speakers_, "Yeah, hurry! Samara is injured!"_

"Understood," Quaero said, pressing the button again. He banged on the door behind him to alert Grunt and Garrus that they were almost to the towers. Quaero pulled the ship up next the tower window and turned the shuttle so that the door faced the window.

Quaero set the shuttle in hover mode and opened the cockpit door. Garrus kneeled next to the shuttle door with his sniper rifle at the ready, Grunt stood in the middle of the cabin with his assault rifle ready. Quaero got ready to help people into the shuttle. Quaero opened the shuttle door. In an effort to save time, he hadn't put on his armor or got his weapons.

Through the window, riddled with bullet holes, Quaero could see Shepard, Tali, and a drell crouched behind a long desk. Samara was sitting with her back to the desk, facing the shuttle, she looked unconscious. Quaero used a biotic blast to shatter the window and get Shepard's attention.

Shepard's squad stopped firing and turned around and saw the shuttle waiting. Quaero motioned for them to come in. Suddenly Eclipse mercs flooded into the room and unleashed heavy fire upon the shuttle. The new shields were strong enough to take the bullet storm, but the Eclipse attack was too heavy for Shepard and her squad to run to the shuttle, even though it was only about ten feet to the shuttle.

Garrus and Grunt were killing enemies as quickly as they could but Eclipse kept flooding into the room. Quaero realized this would be the perfect time for a test. Quaero opened a small control box on the wall and pressed a button. A small panel in the floor near the door slid open and the Dragon's Breath Gatling Turret lifted out and positioned itself facing out, waiting to be fired.

Quaero turned to Grunt, whose eyes were wide and locked on the Turret. He looked up at Quaero, a little bit of drool slipping out of his mouth, he gestured to himself. Quaero nodded.

Grunt smiled wide and fire lit in his eyes. Grunt's battle rage kicked in and he roared and laughed with a primal rage. He threw his assault rifle onto the floor and stepped up to the Dragon's Breath.

He grasped the two grips of the Turret and pulled the triggers. The barrels on both guns began to spin, faster and faster. Suddenly the guns began to unleash their hell upon the numerous Eclipse mercs. The Turret fired so quickly that the gunshots blended together into a whirring sound and the muzzle flashes looked like a constant light emanating from the front of the guns. Grunt's maniacal laughter could just be heard over the Turret's gunfire and the screaming of the Eclipse mercs. The mercs tried in vain to escape the room, but were just gunned down as they fought among themselves to run out of the room.

The last of the Eclipse died. Grunt released the triggers, smiling and panting. The barrels spun for a few seconds still, but didn't fire, steam emanated from the super-heated barrels.

Shepard and the squad wasted no time in running to the shuttle. Quaero helped Tali in and hopped out of the shuttle to help get Samara. He could tell Tali was watching him as he headed toward Samara, but thought nothing of it. Quaero passed the drell on his way toward Samara. The met eyes as they passed, something about the look in his eye made Quaero uneasy. But Quaero focused on the situation and rushed to Samara's side with Shepard.

Samara had been shot on the left side of her stomach. Quaero lifted her up in his arms, and carried her to shuttle while Shepard watched his back. Quaero walked back to the shuttle quickly, he saw Tali staring at him as she held her shotgun a little tightly. He thought nothing of it. He laid Samara gently on the floor. Shepard hopped into the shuttle and closed the door.

"I don't have any medi-gel," Shepard said, standing next to Samara, "We're going to have to get her back to the Normandy to get her help."

Quaero pointed to a small panel with a white X on it that was above one of the seats, "There's medi-gel in that cabinet."

Shepard opened the panel and was surprised to see numerous stacks of refrigerated medi-gel tubes. She pulled one from the cabinet and handed it to Quaero, who was applying pressure to staunch the bleeding. He took it quickly and applied the medi-gel to the wound; he turned Samara over and added the rest of it onto her exit wound.

Quaero easily lifted Samara up and placed her into a seat. He walked over to the Turret control box and used it to, much to Grunt's disappointment, put the Dragon's Breath back into its compartment. He stepped back into the cockpit and started to fly the Kodiak back to the Normandy.

Quaero gently landed the Kodiak in the shuttle hanger of the Normandy and opened the door to the shuttle. He walked out into the cabin and was lifted Samara up gently in his arms. He walked quickly out of the shuttle and into the elevator, not waiting for any instructions or orders. When someone's life was in danger he never waited to be told what to do.

* * *

><p>Tali watched as Quaero hurried out of the shuttle and onto the elevator across the room, quicker than anybody in the shuttle could unbuckle the seats.<p>

Tali sighed, a little loudly, and she heard Garrus behind her, "Tali are you okay?"

Tali turned around, "Hm?"

"It's just you've been breathing rather deeply, is there something wrong with your air filters or something?"

"Oh no," Tali said, smiling at Garrus, "I'm fine, thanks Garrus."

* * *

><p><strong>In Quaero's Quarters<strong>

Quaero stepped into his room, and sighed deeply. He sat down on his new cot, one almost twice as large as his old one, and buried his mask in his hands. He rubbed the back of his neck and walked to his desk. He turned on his new terminal and opened the inbox. He had one new message from an unknown source, it read:

_To: Quaero Vega_

_From: Public Extranet Terminal #779012, User: Guest_

_Nomad_

_I have to leave Illium soon, and the pirates might get away. I have to leave in 24 hours. Please come contact me today, I don't want to lose them, neither do you._

_Belladonna_

Quaero buried his mask in his hands again; he pressed his forehead against the cool glass on the inside of his mask and sighed. He sat up and pulled his note book from his desk drawer. He wrote a short note on it and tore the page off. He folded the page and placed it on his cot.

Quaero opened his locker and began putting on his armor.

* * *

><p><strong>About an Hour Later<strong>

Shepard walked quickly down toward the cockpit of the Normandy. She walked up behind Joker's chair and swiveled him around.

"Hey! What the hell?"

"Joker, have you seen Quaero? We're leaving Illium soon and I can't find him anywhere!"

"Uh yeah, he went outside, he said he wanted to get some air…"

Shepard stared at Joker with her eyes narrowed and her mouth open in confusion.

"What?" Joker said.

"He said he wanted to get some air? He breathes through air filters! The air outside wouldn't be any different to him than inside! Dammit Joker!"

Joker looked thoughtful, "Huh, now that I think about it that does make sense…"

EDI's hologram appeared on the pedestal next to Joker's controls, it said, "Shepard, I think it would be important to inform you that Quaero was fully armored and armed when he exited the Normandy. External cameras suggest that he also left the docking station as well."

Shepard laughed sarcastically, "Great, that's just fucking great…"

Shepard ran at a slow jog back to the elevator.

* * *

><p><strong>In Engineering<strong>

Shepard walked quickly down the stairs to Quaero's room. Jack walked up to her before she reached the door.

"Shepard!" Jack said with slight concern in her voice, "I saw Quaero walk outta here packing heavy weapons! And something was up with him cause he always says 'hi' to me when he passes by, he just ignored me this time. What the fuck is goin' on Shepard?"

Shepard looked at her, slightly taken aback, "What do you care?"

Jack looked slightly offended, "Hey!"

Shepard raised her hands apologetically, "Sorry."

Jack shrugged, "He's alright, and he treats me ok, like he actually cares."

Shepard nodded in agreement, that did sound like Quaero. But this didn't. Running off without telling her about it? Something wasn't right.

Shepard opened the door to Quaero's room and walked in followed by Jack. She looked around as if he still might be there. He wasn't. Shepard walked to his locker and saw that it was empty. She turned around and looked at his cot. There was a small folded piece of paper on his it. How cliché.

She picked it up and something fell out onto the cot. Quaero's scrap metal rose. She stared at it for a second and read the note out loud for Jack, it said:

_Shepard_

_Sorry, but I can't tell you where I'm going. Something in my past has come up and I wasn't sure if I could trust you with it. Also I didn't want to distract you from your mission. The flower is to ensure that I will come back. You know that I wouldn't leave it. This may take a while, so I want you to continue on your mission without me. Don't worry; I'll be back before the end. Please don't come looking for me, I have to do this._

_Quaero_

_P.S. Tell Tali not to worry about me. And that I'm sorry I couldn't be around to comfort her in my absence. She may want to come looking for me. I don't want you to let her. If you do, she won't stop until she finds me._

Shepard looked at Jack, who looked extremely troubled by this. Jack looked up at Shepard.

"We're going after him right?"

"Oh hell yes."

Jack smiled, a rare sight, and Shepard returned the gesture. Jack turned and walked to her shelf to get her shotgun and pistol.

"Want me to get Tali?" Jack said as she checked her pistol.

"Yeah, she's going to want to come along, you guys meet me on the CIC in 15, okay?" Shepard said as she headed for the stairs.

"Got it!" Jack called as Shepard ran up the stairs.

* * *

><p><strong>On the CIC Deck<strong>

Shepard stood in the armory and attached her new N7 tactical visor to her ear and turned it on. The holographic scope appeared over her right eye; she shut it off and turned as Jacob handed her her weapons: Her Revenant Machine gun, her new Viper Sniper rifle, her Predator heavy pistol, and her Scimitar Shotgun.

"You sure you don't want me to come along?" Jacob said as he handed her thermal clips.

"No, thanks Jacob," Shepard said as she placed the clips on her belt, "Tali would kill me if I didn't bring her and Jack is good friends with him."

"I understand Shepard," Jacob said as he attached Shepard's ML-77 Missile Launcher to her back, "Just make sure he comes back. He's a good guy."

Shepard turned and looked at Jacob, "I didn't know you two were friends."

"Well we haven't talked much but the little we have he seems like a nice guy, and I'd like to get to know him better."

Shepard nodded, "Well, don't worry we'll get him back here."

Shepard walked out onto the CIC and was surprised to at what she saw. Her entire squad, save for Jacob, stood around arguing with each other.

Jack walked up quickly to Shepard, she said, "Shepard! Tell the cheerleader that I'm going with you to get Quaero!"

Miranda walked up next to Jack, followed by Tali, Grunt, Garrus, Samara, Mordin, and even Thane.

"I want to help you find Quaero!" Miranda said, menacingly.

"She already said I could go!" Jack growled.

"And I'm going no matter what anybody says!" Tali yelled to the whole crowd.

"I'd like to go," Garrus said, "He is my friend and I want to help you find him."

"If anybody's going it's me!" Grunt roared, "He owes me a rematch!"

"I wish I could help find him," said Samara, "But I'm injured, Shepard, please get him back safely."

"His genetic material is important for experiments," said Mordin, "I would like to go so I can take samples in case he's dead."

"He's not dead you bosh' tet!" Tali screamed into Mordin's face.

"I can help you track him too, Shepard," Thane said, "He saved our lives in Dantius Towers; it's the least that I can do."

Suddenly the crowd began an uproar of arguments.

Shepard yelled above the crowd, "Hey! Hey! Quiet down! I'm taking Tali and Jack! Everybody got that?"

Murmurs arose from the crowd, but nobody dared to question her authority. The crowd broke apart and Tali and Jack were left standing in front of Shepard.

"Damn," Jack said, "Quaero's really popular."

"Shepard!" Tali said, "Jack told me about Quaero, why did he leave?"

"His note said he had business to take care of."

"Why wouldn't he tell me about it?" Tali asked sounding distraught.

Jack said, "Any suggestions on where we can find him?"

Shepard thought for a moment, "We can go ask Liara, she'll probably know where he is."

* * *

><p><strong>In Liara T' Soni's Office<strong>

"Yes he was here," Liara said as she typed on her terminal, "He was asking about one of my employees, an Asari commando, by the name of Zitella Amante. They used to be old friends. At first I didn't trust him, but he said he worked for you. So I told him where to find her."

Shepard stood, "Where are they?"

"They're meeting in cargo hanger #431; you can take a taxi to get there."

"Thanks Liara," Shepard said as she exited Liara's office.

* * *

><p>The taxi landed outside of the cargo hanger and Shepard stepped out followed by Tali and Jack. Shepard transferred payment for the driver and waited for him to fly away. Shepard turned back toward the hanger, it was a huge round metal structure, with a large black 431 written on the front.<p>

Shepard walked up to the door, which was slightly open and peered inside. Suddenly a rough gravelly voice came from behind them.

"Who the fuck are you?"

Shepard turned around and saw a large squad of Blue Suns mercs, around eight total.

"We're looking for someone," Shepard said with her hand on her pistol.

"You and me both. Now beat it," a large Batarian said.

Tali stepped up and took a threatening pose, "We're not leaving until we find him! Now why don't you beat it before we break you!"

The Batarian looked surprised, then a smile stretched across his face and he started laughing, "Ha ha ha! Did you hear that boys? She's going to break us!"

"She's not," Jack said as she started to glow with biotics, "I will."

Jack launched a powerful biotic shockwave into the squad of Blue Suns. They all flew ten feet into the air before crashing onto the hard metal ground. The Batarian Blue Suns leader got up and drew a shotgun.

Shepard quickly drew her pistol and fired at the Batarian leader until her thermal clip was spent. The Batarian dropped his shotgun and fell flat onto the ground, his chest riddled with bullet holes.

Another merc charged at Shepard with a shotgun in his hands, but his head was blasted off by Tali's shotgun before he got close to Shepard. The rest of the Blue Suns had been knocked unconscious by Jack's powerful biotic display, and lay motionless on the ground.

Suddenly the sound of gunshots emanated from inside the hanger. Shepard turned and drew her Revenant. She walked into the hanger cautiously. The first thing they saw was Quaero ducked behind some boxes nearby, he had his Revenant in his hands and was peering over the top of the boxes, watching a group of Blue Suns mercs shooting at a tall pile of cargo containers.

"Quaero!" Tali shouted as she ran at him. He looked in her direction and pointed his gun at her. When he recognized her, he lowered his gun and got punched in the stomach by Tali. He didn't flinch much, but the blow was unexpected.

"Keelah, what the hell! How did you guys find me!" Quaero said as Tali was joined by Shepard and Jack.

"We talked to Liara," Shepard said sternly.

"Of course you did," Quaero said shaking his head, "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you Shepard, I didn't want to distract you."

"What's going on Quaero?" Jack asked.

Suddenly bullets flew past their heads, Quaero ducked back behind the boxes accompanied by Shepard, Jack, and Tali.

"I'll tell you about it later!" Quaero said as he set the ammo type on his Revenant to armor-piercing, "Right now, I need your help Shepard!"

"What's the situation?"

"An old friend of mine got into contact with me recently, she's pinned down over there behind those cargo containers. She's in trouble with the Blue Suns but that's not why she contacted me. I'll tell you about it after she's safe!"

"She?" Tali said a little spitefully.

"Yeah," Quaero said absently, "She's an Asari and you know there's only one kind…"

Shepard looked at Tali, who looked a little embarrassed. Shepard shook her head and began giving orders the squad.

"Quaero you stay here and help me provide cover for Tali and Jack. You two head in opposite directions and flank them on either side. Once in position, Tali I want you to use your combat drone and get their attention, then Jack, I want you to unleash hell on them with your biotics. Understood?"

"Hell yeah!"

"Understood Shepard."

"Good. Move out!"

Shepard and Quaero popped out of cover and fired long powerful bursts from their machine guns, while Tali and Jack ran in opposite directions, staying low to avoid detection.

The mercs stopped shooting at the cargo container and turned around to face Quaero and Shepard. They started to back up as the fired their weapons at Shepard and Quaero's cover. They ducked to avoid getting shot and Shepard raised a hand to her ear.

"Tali! Jack! Are you two in position yet?"

"_Affirmative Shepard."_

"_Yeah I'm here."_

"Good. Tali go ahead and use your combat drone."

Quaero peeked over the boxes as the gunfire stopped hitting their cover. He saw a purple combat drone moving toward the mercs, backing them up closer to the cargo container stack. Bright bolts of electricity arced from the drone as it attacked the mercs. A few dropped down dead, but the rest managed to destroy the drone.

Suddenly a bright blue biotic shockwave blasted out from in front of the squad of mercs. The ones in front flew back and fell into their squad mates, the ones in back stumbled back from the combined force of the biotic shockwave and their flying teammates. The surviving mercs were right up to the cargo containers now, only a handful were left standing.

Quaero and Shepard were about to finish them off when the cargo container stack suddenly lit with biotics and toppled over onto the mercs, crushing and killing them instantly.

A shapely Asari with black and white form fitting armor stepped around the cargo containers slowly. She had deep blue skin and white markings on her face. She looked very stern and commanding, but also very beautiful. She held a Claymore shotgun in one hand and she was glowing brightly with a biotic aura.

Quaero vaulted over the boxes and ran to her and gave her a hug. She returned the favor with her free hand and stared at the approaching strangers. Tali, Shepard, and Jack gathered around Quaero and the Asari. Tali gave the Asari a cold look. The Asari raised the shotgun into Shepard's face.

"Nomad, who are these people?" Her voice was icy and commanding, but with a slight hint of affection toward Quaero.

"Don't worry Bella," Quaero said as he pushed her shotgun down, "We can trust them. This is Commander Shepard, Jack, and Tali. I've told you about her."

The Asari extended a hand to Tali, but Tali didn't take it. So she turned to Shepard who did shake her hand.

"Shepard," Quaro said, "This is Zitella Amante. But I call her Bella or Belladonna."

"Why?" Shepard asked releasing Zitella's hand.

"The same reason why I call him Nomad," Zitella said, gesturing to Quaero, "We were both part of Sigant Maise's Krantt. Everyone in his Krantt used nicknames to protect their identities. He's Nomad because he's from the Migrant Fleet, Maise thought that was appropriate."

Quaero gestured to Zitella, "And she's named after the human flower, Belladonna, because she's beautiful, but deadly."

Tali flinched slightly at the word beautiful but Quaero didn't notice. Shepard glanced over at Tali, then back to Quaero and Zitella.

"So what do I call you then? Zitella or Belladonna?" Shepard asked.

"Zitella. Belladonna is for people in Maise's Krantt," Zitella said threateningly.

"So, just Quaero?" Jack said.

Zitella nodded and Tali flinched again.

"_They have pet names for each other?" _Tali thought_, "Oh Keelah, my aching heart!"_

"Anyways, care to explain why you ran off Quaero," Shepard said sternly, placing her hands on her hips.

Quaero and Zitella looked at each other, Quaero said, "Well, Bella is helping me track down some old enemies, and we've found them."

Zitella typed into her omni-tool, "They're a Batarian pirate gang that are known as The Vanquished. They're led by this man."

A holographic bust of a Batarian appeared over Zitella's omni-tool. His face looked like it had been smashed in repeatedly and healed. Scars riddled his face and one thick jagged scar crossed his face diagonally across his nose and crossed one eye on each side of his face. The damaged eyes were missing from their sockets, leaving empty black holes in his face. A thick metal plate was bolted to his forehead and jawline.

Zitella said with bitter malice and disgust in her voice, "Cacete the Corpse-Eater."

"Damn, he's even uglier than normal Batarians," Jack said, with her nose scrunched up like she had smelled something revolting.

Tali looked at Quaero who was quivering slightly, his head pointed at toward the rotating hologram of Cacete. He started to glow with a biotic aura, and objects began to float around the room, including the dead mercs, and a few boxes.

Zitella looked at him and shut off her omni-tool. His aura instantly vanished and all the floating objects crashed loudly onto the floor. Shouts of alarm could be heard outside of the hanger.

Shepard said, "We can't talk here we need to get back to the Normandy."

Shepard led the four others to the other side of the hanger to the second door. Zitella and Quaero lagged behind slightly, talking and walking closely. Tali, looked back at them, and could swear that she could hear her own heart bleeding.


	11. Chapter 11: The Corpse Eater

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Ch. 11: The Corpse Eater**

Shepard stepped out of the elevator onto the Shuttle Hanger deck. She walked straight for the Kodiak which had its door open. Shepard walked up to it and peeked inside, she saw Quaero lounging in one of the chairs with his feet up on EDI's hologram pedestal, and Zitella sitting across from him.

"Oh hey Shepard!" Quaero said cheerfully.

Zitella nodded at Shepard, and Shepard smiled at the two of them.

"I was hoping to have a word with Quaero in private," Shepard said.

Zitella nodded again and stood, she walked slowly out of the shuttle and toward the elevator, swaying her hips a little as she walked, drawing a certain pair of eyes.

"Damn she's got a fine ass…" Shepard said as she bit her lip.

"What?" Quaero said.

"Huh? Oh nothing," Shepard said as she sat across from Quaero.

"How much longer until we get to Volkov?" Quaero asked.

"We're still in FTL so it'll still be a few hours," Shepard said.

Quaero crossed his arms across his chest. He still had his armor on; he didn't want to take it off. He didn't say anything for a few seconds, which made Shepard a little uncomfortable.

"I love the upgrades you made to the Kodiak," Shepard said rubbing the leather armrest of her seat.

Quaero just grunted in response, his chin was rested on his chest. Shepard frowned and stood up, she snapped her fingers in front of his face, and when she got no response she giggled.

Shepard whispered, "Sleeping on the job. Tsk. Tsk. EDI."

EDI's image appeared on the pedestal over Quaero's boots.

It whispered back, "Yes Shepard?"

Shepard smiled maliciously, "Could you lower your pedestal here in the shuttle please?"

EDI was silent for a moment, it then whispered, "Of course Shepard."

EDI's hologram disappeared and its hologram pedestal lowered very quickly. Quaero yelped and jolted out of his seat. He leapt to his feet and scanned the cabin. He saw Shepard rolling on the floor laughing like a maniac and he quickly realized what had happened and sighed.

Shepard lifted herself back up into her seat; Quaero sat down too, and crossed his arms again, this time angrily.

"What the hell Shepard? That was the first time I've slept in the last week!" Quaero said, angrily but still cheerfully.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I couldn't help myself!" Shepard said still laughing.

"Did you come down here just to do that Shepard?" Quaero said.

Shepard shook her head with a wide smile on her face.

"No I came to talk to you about other things."

Quaero leaned back in his seat again, "What?"

"A couple of things. First: Is Zitella planning on staying on the Normandy? She seems like a proficient combatant."

"She is a great combatant. Her biotics are very powerful for her age. She's just reaching her Matron stage. I've asked her and she said she is considering it."

"Second: Have you talked with Tali recently?"

"No. She seems a little distant. It's really bothering me."

Shepard sighed, "You two need to talk."

Quaero leaned forward, and said threateningly, "What aren't you telling me Shepard?"

Shepard was surprised at Quaero's aggressiveness, "Talk to Tali, Quaero."

He sat back again, "Is that all Shepard?"

"No, one last thing."

Quaero sighed, "Of course Shepard."

"I was hoping you could tell me more about the mercenary band you worked in. The one led by… was it Maise?"

Quaero nodded, "If you want Shepard.

"Well there were seven of us total, each with a nickname or call sign that we used. There was myself, Bella, Pharaoh, that was Maise, Pyrite, Utopian, Goliath, and… Crypt. We traveled the galaxy in Maise's ship the Soturi. We were a referral only mercenary band, making us untraceable. This and the nicknames were necessary because Maise had many enemies. Anyway, our merc group was very popular, and we got a lot of contracts and a lot of money in the process. Maise insisted on a uniform for the group."

Quaero stood, "Well not necessarily a uniform, more like a group color. We all adopted black and white armor and weapons. Speaking of which I should repaint my Revenant. The black and white was from Maise's clan, his clan had unique genetics that resulted in white skin and black eyes and scales on their bodies."

"Wait, what was the name of Maise's clan?" Shepard interjected.

"Clan Sigant. His clan was wiped out when he was very young and he was one of the last surviving members of his clan."

"Ah, I see, please go on," Shepard said, leaning back in the chair.

Quaero sat back down.

"Well anyways, Maise became like a father to me. He taught me how to fight and use my biotics. Eventually he added me as a full on member to his Krantt, before all I did was carry his stuff. That was when Maise's pilot, Pyrite, died from a poisoning. I took over as the pilot for his ship which is how I became a member of his Krantt. We fought together for the next two years, they became like a family to me. Then things went to hell. We got a contract from… Crypt. He went on his own to do a contract and he sent us one while he was away. He said it was for a friend of his, so we were happy to oblige, we had to go to a remote planet for the contract. When we got there, we were ambushed by Thresher Maws. Bella and I managed to escape alive, but Goliath, Utopian, and Maise were all killed by the Maws.

"When Bella and I went back to the ship we found it was gone. We tried to get in touch with Crypt; he had dropped off of the map. We discovered that he had gotten paid by a rival mercenary group that Maise had managed to piss off. Crypt had betrayed us. Well, eventually Bella and I managed to get off of that hell hole and hunt down the mercenary group down to the last member. After that we tried to hunt down Crypt. We couldn't find him. So we went our separate ways. I wasn't ready to quit but I had to continue on my Pilgrimage. That's when I went to Navis and…"

Quaero interrupted himself with a loud yawn.

"Oh sorry Shepard, I'm just a little tired. Perhaps we can continue after we catch… Cacete."

Shepard stood, "Absolutely. Get some rest, I'll talk to you later Quaero."

"Shepard."

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile in Engineering<strong>

Tali had been staring at the Kodiak, for a long time now. Quaero and Zitella had gone in there a long time ago. She saw a figure walking towards the shuttle below. It was Shepard. Tali watched as Shepard walked into the Kodiak. Shortly after Shepard disappeared inside the Kodiak, Zitella walked out and headed toward the elevator.

Tali sighed loudly and walked down the stairs to the entrance to Quaero's room. She checked to make sure Jack wasn't around, and sat down on the floor next to Quaero's room, waiting.

* * *

><p><strong>Hours later, In the Captains Quarters<strong>

Shepard dropped down from the pull-up bar and exhaled loudly as she landed. She grabbed the towel from her desk and accidently knocked her Medal of Honor onto the ground.

"Dammit!" Shepard said as she wiped her forehead.

She bent down and picked up the framed Medal, the glass was cracked and the Medal's ribbon was torn a little. Shepard cursed and placed it in a drawer that was filled with broken framed Medals.

She opened another drawer, one filled with framed Medals of Honor and placed a new framed Medal of Honor onto her desk. She smiled and dabbed her forehead again with the towel again.

"Pardon me Shepard," EDI's voice said behind her.

"Yes EDI?" Shepard said.

"We will be arriving at Volkov in about an hour would you like me to tell your attending squad?"

"No, I'll do that myself. Just open a video feed for Quaero please."

"Very well Shepard."

Shepard walked over to her private terminal. A video feed of the cabin of the Kodiak appeared on her screen. Quaero lounged in the same seat he was in hours ago, with his feet again up on EDI's pedestal again.

Shepard pressed the intercom button on her terminal.

"Quaero!"

Quaero jumped and looked around cabin. After looking around for a second he said, _"Shepard? Where are you?"_

Shepard smiled, "I'm in my cabin, and I'm talking to you through the intercom. I just wanted to let you know that we will be arriving at Volkov in an hour."

Quaero stood and stretched.

"_Thanks Shepard,"_ Quaero said.

"Quaero who should I take with us for the mission? Aside from you and Zitella," Shepard said.

"_Hm, well Garrus has wanted to go with me on a mission for a while, why not him?"_

Shepard sat back and thought it over for a second and said, "Okay sure. See you soon Quaero and could you tell Zitella to get ready to?"

"_Alright. And Shepard? Thanks."_

Shepard looked at the screen, to see Quaero's mask facing the camera in the cabin. Shepard smiled.

"Don't mention it Quaero."

Quaero left the Kodiak in the video feed. Shepard sighed and said, "EDI please bring up a video feed for the Forward Battery now please."

EDI was silent for a moment, before saying, "Very well, Shepard."

The image on Shepard's terminal screen changed from the Kodiak's cabin to an image of the Forward Battery. But, much to Shepard's surprise, Garrus wasn't standing in his usual position in front of the controls, but sitting on the crate that Shepard often sat on when talking to him. He was staring at a vid playing on the screen on the opposite wall and sipping at a can of Topari soda.

Shepard glared at the screen, "What the…

Shepard pressed the intercom button.

"Garrus! What are you doing?"

Garrus looked up slightly but remained focused on the vid, _"Calibrations, Shepard!"_

Shepard glared at the screen, "No you're not! I can see you!"

Garrus looked around the room, after a bit he said, _"Nope, I'm calibrating the Thanix, Shepard!"_

Shepard pounded her desk with her free hand and yelled into the mic, "Dammit Garrus! I can see you! You're drinking a can of Topari and watching… Are… Are you watching Cowboys and Turians?"

Garrus looked around the room frantically, _"Where the hell are you?"_

Shepard shut off her terminal angrily. So every time Garrus said he was too busy to talk because of calibrations, he was actually watching vids and drinking goddamn Topari! Shepard hated Topari, the vending machine wouldn't give her any, it just spat out stupid ads!

Shepard groaned and said, "Fuck it, I'll bring along Jacob."

* * *

><p><strong>50 Minutes Later GST, CIC Deck<strong>

Shepard stepped out of the elevator onto the CIC, fully armored. She walked into the armory to get her weapons and found Quaero, Jacob, and Zitella sitting around the table near the entrance. Quaero had his Revenant on the table in front of him, the original red color of the gun was changed to white.

"Hey Shepard," Jacob said.

"Shepard," said Quaero

Zitella nodded to Shepard. Shepard nodded back and walked to the table that her weapons were on. She placed them onto her back one by one and started putting thermal clips onto her belt. After she was finished she walked over to the table.

"We're almost in orbit of Volkov," Shepard said as Quaero, Jacob, and Zitella stood.

"We may want to use the Normandy's stealth systems to get close to them," Quaero said as he walked out of the armory.

Shepard followed along with Jacob and Zitella toward the cockpit.

"EDI have you found the ship yet?" Quaero asked as he reached the cockpit.

"Affirmative, we are approaching the target vessel. Activating stealth systems," EDI said.

Shepard looked out of the window as a ship came into view behind some asteroids. It was a small corvette class starship, and it looked very, very old. It was a rusted red color and Shepard could just barely make out the faded name of the ship painted onto its side: Soturi.

Shepard's eyes widened and she looked over at Quaero and Zitella. Quaero was quivering slightly, his hands balled tightly into fists. Zitella's constant angry stern look became even angrier and sterner at the sight of the ship.

"Quaero… that's..." Shepard began.

"The Soturi," Quaero said with malice in his voice, "Finally I'm going to kill this bosh' tet."

The Normandy pulled up over the Soturi, and EDI's image appeared on her pedestal.

"I've hacked into the Soturi's systems, they will not be able to escape," EDI said.

"Thank you EDI," Quaero said as he walked back toward the elevator.

* * *

><p><strong>On the Soturi<strong>

Shepard stepped onto the main deck of the Soturi, everything was silent and the room was empty.

The team spread out checking every corner of the small deck. After they were positive that the deck was clear the group gathered in the middle of the room.

"There are three decks on the ship," Zitella said, "This one, the Crew Deck and the Cargo Deck."

"Let's clear the Crew Deck and then the Cargo Deck," Jacob said, raising his shotgun a little.

"Sounds good to me," Shepard said, "Where's the elevator?"

"There are only ladders," Quaero said walking over to a small alcove with a ladder leading down. He put his Revenant on his back and slid down the ladder.

"Dammit Quaero, wait!" Shepard said as she ran to the ladder.

She looked down the access hole and saw light coming from a room at the bottom. Suddenly bullets started to ping the inside of access tube, followed by shouts and gunshots.

"Shit," Shepard said sliding down the ladder.

Shepard turned around and found herself in a brightly lit room slightly larger than the Main Deck. The walls were lined with bunks, three on each side of the room, with a long table in the center of the room. At the other end of the room were a small kitchen area and another access tube with a ladder in it.

Quaero was crouched behind a bunk on Shepard's left, firing his Revenant across the room at a group of Batarians. Shepard crouched behind the table and pulled Jacob down behind the table as he dropped to the bottom of the ladder. Zitella dropped to the bottom of the ladder and rolled to the opposite end of the room, and crouched behind a bunk.

"Jacob!" Shepard yelled over the noise of the gunfire.

Jacob looked at her, "What's the plan Shepard?"

"Crawl under the table and get close to them to use your shotguns and biotics," Shepard yelled to Jacob.

Jacob looked at Shepard confused; he then shrugged and crawled under the table. Shepard stole a glance at his ass before turning to Quaero.

"Quaero! Jacob is getting closer to the Batarians. We need to provide him cover!"

"Roger that Shepard!" Quaero said as he hefted his Revenant.

Shepard held up three fingers, she lowered one, and then clenched her fist. Shepard and Quaero popped out of their cover simultaneously and fired a long torrent from their Revenants.

The Batarian squad dropped down behind the counter in the kitchen area. One Batarian wasn't quick enough and staggered back against the wall as he was hit by countless projectiles.

Shepard turned to Zitella.

"Zitella! Move up and help Jacob! We'll cover you!"

Zitella nodded and crawled toward the other end of the room with her shotgun at the ready. Shepard stole a glance at her ass, before rising out of cover again to shoot at the Batarians who were still behind the counter.

Suddenly Zitella and Jacob rose up on either sides of the counter and unloaded their shotguns on the Batarians. Dark red blood flew in all directions from behind the counter and splattered onto Jacob and Zitella.

Shepard and Quaero ran to the other end of the room.

"Nice work you two," Shepard said.

Quaero bent down and examined each of the Batarians. After he had finished examining the last dead Batarian he stood and turned to the others.

"None of these guys are Cacete," Quaero said, sounding a little disappointed.

"He must be in the Cargo Deck," Jacob said as he wiped blood off of his face with his sleeve, but he just succeeded in smearing the blood over the rest of his face.

Quaero moved quickly to the ladder and slid down to the bottom.

"Dammit Quaero! Don't rush ahead!" Shepard yelled after Quaero, she ran to the ladder and slid down to the bottom.

Shepard turned around and saw Quaero with his gun raised, but Shepard was too stunned at what she also saw to raise her weapon as well.

Dozens of people were sitting or lying on the ground around the room. Humans, Asari, Turians and a few Quarians filled the room, each covered in dirt and scum, one of the Quarians was coughing violently. These people were to be sold as slaves.

Shepard heard Zitella and Jacob enter the room behind her.

"Oh God…" Shepard heard Jacob say behind her.

That's when Shepard noticed the person Quaero had his gun pointed at, the only person in the room standing.

A gigantic, hideously scarred Batarian, Cacete the Corpse-Eater. He wore heavy black armor with white splatter marks over his armor that looked like blood splatter, but was unarmed. He held a small explosives trigger in his hand. Shepard looked at the slaves; each one had an explosives device strapped to their chests. Shepard quickly realized what was happening she drew her pistol and leveled it with Cacete.

"Sorry Nomad," Cacete said in a voice far deeper than a normal Batarians, "But you're too late."

"Don't you dare call me that!" Quaero yelled.

Cacete ignored him, "Hello Bella, it's been a while. I've missed you."

Zitella remained silent, she just kept her shotgun pointed at Cacete.

"And you must be Commander Shepard," Cacete said with a smile that revealed metal teeth.

"Shut up," Shepard responded, "What are you doing with all these people?"

"Right to the point," Cacete said, smiling a little wider, "I like that."

"Shut up and answer her question!" Quaero yelled.

Cacete raised his detonator, "They're insurance."

"They're people!" Quaero yelled, glowing with a biotic aura.

"Careful Nomad. You don't want to do that," Cacete said waving the detonator back and forth in his hand.

"What do you mean insurance?" Shepard said, though she already knew what he meant.

"This is a detonator that will activate the bomb jackets of all of these slaves. I already have pressed the switch. If I let it go then all of these people will die, and so will you."

The room was silent except for the violent coughing of the Quarian. Silence persisted, until Quaero lowered his weapon. Shepard, Jacob, and Zitella all looked at him.

"What do you want?" Quaero said with pure malice in his voice.

Cacete smiled very wide, "First I want you to put your weapons onto the ground."

The squad looked at each other, nervously. Finally Quaero threw his Revenant onto the ground quickly followed by his shotgun.

Shepard sighed loudly, she threw her weapons onto the ground quickly. Jacob and Zitella followed suit.

"Thank you," Cacete said cheerfully, "Now I'm going to leave, you're going to stay here. If you try to follow me I'll release the switch. Don't worry about these people, the detonator has a limited range, once I'm out of that range they will be safe."

Cacete walked toward the squad, stepping on a few of the people as he passed. He walked past Shepard and her squad and started to climb the ladder. Minutes later a rumbling noise could be heard from above.

"He's taking the escape pod…" Quaero said absently.

"Quaero…" Shepard said stepping a little closer to him, she tried to place a hand on his shoulder. He shook her hand away from himself, and stepped forward to the coughing Quarian.

Quaero kneeled next to the coughing Quarian. She was coughing so badly that she was gasping for air. Quaero sighed and walked up to Shepard. He held out his hand.

"Pistol."

Shepard looked at Quaero's waiting hand then to the sick Quarian, who was writhing on the ground. Shepard handed her pistol to Quaero.

Quaero turned around and quickly walked up to the sick Quarian. He leveled the pistol with the sick Quarian's head.

"Walk with the Ancestors," Quaero said, choking on his words.

He shot her in the head. The kill seemed to cause no animosity with the other slaves, they just flinched at the gunshot. Quaero quickly tossed the gun to the side and sat down against a wall. Shepard heard quiet sobs coming from him.

* * *

><p><strong>On the Normandy<strong>

"Are you sure you won't reconsider?" Quaero asked Zitella on the CIC.

"No, I'm sorry. But I can't join you in your mission. I have prior obligations to some people that I can't overlook, and don't worry I will drop the slaves off somewhere," Zitella said.

"I understand," Quaero said sadly, "How can I repay you for helping me?"

Zitella thought for a moment, "Two things: First I want you to let me have the Soturi. Second: When you catch up with Cacete, I want you to bring me along."

Quaero nodded, "Absolutely."

"Thank you," Zitella said affectionately, "Take care of yourself, Quaero."

Zitella turned and walked back through the airlock of the Normandy into the Soturi, she nodded to Shepard as she passed.

Shepard watched as the Soturi slowly drifted away from the Normandy.

"EDI," Shepard said as EDI's image appeared on its pedestal, "Is Cacete out of range to use his detonator?"

"Yes," EDI responded, "And unfortunately he is also out of my scan range as well, as a result I cannot track his escape pod."

Shepard sighed, "Thank you, EDI. That will be all."

"Logging you out Shepard."

Shepard turned to Quaero, who was slumped against the wall behind the Joker's chair.

"Quaero," Shepard said sternly, "I want to talk about what happened."

Quaero was about to speak when EDI's image reappeared on her pedestal.

"Shepard!" EDI exclaimed frantically.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Shepard said as she frowned with concern.

"Cacete's escape pod has turned around! It's back within the detonator's range!"

"No! No! No!" Quaero yelled as he ran to the cockpit window.

Shepard looked out the window in horror as the Soturi blew in half. The front end of the Soturi spun off in another direction while the back end exploded again and was obliterated.

Quaero banged on a console, "No! Dammit no!"

Shepard walked up to Joker, who was staring at Quaero with pity written all over his face.

"Joker! Go after the front end of the Soturi!"

Joker looked at Shepard and nodded.

"EDI!" Shepard said, "Is Cacete still within scan range? Can you find him?"

"Apologies Shepard," EDI responded, "But he flew his pod just inside his detonator range then flew off again. He is beyond our reach now."

Shepard stared out the window of the cockpit of the Normandy at the mangled front end of the Soturi.

"EDI, scan the ship, is there anybody left alive onboard?" Shepard said.

After a short silence EDI responded, "No life signs detected."

Shepard turned to look at Quaero, who was sitting on the floor.

Shepard stared at Quaero for a long time, she was unable to find the words to use to comfort him.

"Shepard."

Shepard turned to look at EDI's hologram, "Yes EDI?"

"Further scans have indicated that of the four escape pods on the Soturi, only two remain."

Quaero instantly jolted to his feet, "What? Is Bella still alive?"

"There are no escape pods in my scan range," EDI said, "If she survived and managed to leave in an escape pod, then she is either hidden by magnetic interference from the asteroid field, or she is traveling very fast and has left my scan range."

Quaero sighed in relief, "So there's a chance she is alive then?"

"Yes," EDI said.

Quaero laughed a little. Shepard turned back to him, "Quaero I still want to know what the hell happened."

Quaero looked down at Shepard, "Sure Shepard. But not yet."

"What?" Shepard said sternly.

"Before I know that I can trust you," Quaero said, "I need you to do one more favor for me."

Shepard sighed loudly, "Okay Quaero. I'll do it, but after you're going to tell me everything right?"

Quaero nodded, "I want to go to Navis in the Capulus system. To visit my old team."

Shepard's eyebrows rose, she turned and looked at Joker, "Alright. Joker set a course for Navis."

"That's really far out of the way."

"Please Shepard," Quaero said, "I have to do this."

Shepard turned back to Joker. Joker nodded and started to type into his controls.

Shepard turned back to Quaero but he was already walking away toward the elevator. Shepard glared at him then sighed.

* * *

><p><strong>In Engineering<strong>

Quaero walked down the steps to the lower levels of Engineering. He turned the corner and looked toward the entrance to his room, and was surprised when he saw Tali sitting just outside his door.

He walked down the last couple of steps, "Tali?"

Tali looked up at him, "H-Hi Quaero."

"What are you doing here?" Quaero asked as he approached the entrance to his room.

"I-I just wanted to talk," Tali said quietly as she rubbed her hands together.

"Sure, I'd like that," Quaero said as he walked into his room. Tali followed him in, she stood anxiously in the doorway.

"What did you want to talk about?" Quaero said as he removed his shield harness and decorative wrap.

"Uh… just…" Tali began, she stopped once she saw Quaero pull his metal rose from his belt.

Quaero turned to look at Tali, he waited for her continue. Her eyes were locked on the flower, finally she looked back up to Quaero.

"Uh… Never mind," Tali said as she walked quickly out of his room.

She mentally cursed herself, _"How could you be so selfish?"_


	12. Chapter 12: The Buried Ones

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Author's Note: Today… we learn more about Quaero's mysterious past! EXITED?**

**Ch. 12: The Buried Ones**

"Shepard we are approaching Navis now, Joker would like to see you in the cockpit," EDI said.

"Thank you EDI," Shepard said, "That'll be all."

"Logging you out, Shepard," EDI said as her hologram vanished from her pedestal in Shepard's quarters.

Shepard toweled off her wet hair and pulled on her shirt. She walked through the small hall to the elevator and began the long trip down to the CIC.

* * *

><p><strong>Moments Later <strong>

Shepard stepped into the cockpit on the CIC Deck. Joker turned his head toward Shepard for a second before he looked out the window again.

"Hey Shepard."

"Talk to me Joker," Shepard said pointing out the window, "What the hell is that?"

Shepard was referring to the massive swirling ball of gas that lit with lightning every once in a while.

"That's Navis," Joker said as he slowed the ship.

"That swirling cloud of horror and fear?" Shepard said sarcastically.

"Yeah, EDI can tell you about it, I just fly a ship," Joker said as he slowed the ship to a stop some distance outside of the cloud.

"EDI, what can you tell me about it?" Shepard asked glancing over her shoulder, but remaining focused on the cloud.

"This is Navis, a formally garden class world and nearly twice the size of Earth. All the life on it was wiped out by a massive meteor shower that threw so much dust into the atmosphere that it threw the planet into an ice age that killed all of the plant and animal life and that lasted over 15,000 years.

"The fate of this planet was never a good one; 12,000 years after the dust in the atmosphere settled a mysterious cosmic event from the sun's core doubled the heat and radiation that the star emitted. This burned the oxygen in the planet's atmosphere, and the planet literally caught on fire. This effectively ended the ice age.

"This would have made the planet otherwise uninhabitable, however, the Protheans intervened. This was the earliest evidence of terraformer technology in the galaxy. The Protheans restored oxygen in the atmosphere and made the atmosphere on the planet breathable, but they were wiped out before the process was completed.

"The planet was discovered 1700 years ago by the Asari. They studied the Prothean ruins on it for a few decades before they abandoned it. It was repurposed as a ship graveyard planet. Species would crash junk ships onto the planet from orbit. As a result the planet is now covered with the debris from millions of ships, and the resulting dust and debris from the crashes actually flew out of the planet's atmosphere and created the cloud that now surrounds the planet. Pirates who inhabit Navis have named the cloud The Dark Matter Expanse, due to the large amount of element zero in it.

"There is a common misconception about the Expanse, many believe that it blocks out the sun on the planet. However, the cloud actually amplifies the radiation generated from the sun and coupled with the heavy pollution in the planet's atmosphere; the planet gets extremely hot during the day and extremely cold at night. Powerful lightning storms are common in the Expanse, and are a danger for ships traveling through it. Also the high concentration of element zero in the Expanse creates a magnetic interference that make long range scanners and radar technology useless the cloud is thickest the farther away from the planet it is. Once we are close enough to the planet, the only danger will be ship debris that is stuck in orbit. The planet is also home to numerous pirate organizations, due to the danger that the Navis creates to incoming ships, they're relatively safe from law enforcement entities."

Shepard was rubbing the bridge of her nose in between her eyes with her thumb and forefinger, she sighed loudly, "So the dangers of Navis are, lightning storms, orbital debris, pirates, and a signal jamming cloud?"

"And there is the added danger to larger vessels such as the Normandy of being pulled into the planet from the intense gravity," EDI said.

"Sounds like a big challenge for you Joker," Shepard said.

"That's why I'm not going to fly into it," Joker said as he turned his chair around.

"What?" Shepard said shocked, "I would've figured you'd jump to the chance."

"I would love to but I'm not jumping at the chance to destroy the Normandy before we've gone after the Collectors so…"

Shepard rolled her eyes, "Guess we're taking the Kodiak then. EDI, please tell Tali and Quaero to meet me down there in 45."

"Of course, Shepard."

* * *

><p><strong>On Route to Navis, On the Kodiak<strong>

Quaero sat across from Shepard and Tali, staring down at the floor, with his Revenant sitting in his lap. Tali was watching Quaero who was fiddling with his metal rose.

"_Surely he plans on giving it to her now," _Tali thought, _"Why else would he seem so nervous?"_

Shepard was staring out of the window as they passed through The Expanse. EDI was flying the ship safely through the Expanse.

The ship rumbled violently as another bolt of lightning struck it. Shepard and Tali grabbed onto the bars that were bolted to the ceiling. Quaero just remained sitting, staring at the floor.

Suddenly the ship stopped rumbling and light poured in through the window.

"We've crossed the Expanse," Quaero mumbled.

Shepard looked up at Quaero briefly before looking back out the window. EDI skillfully piloted the shuttle through the field of debris around the planet.

"Shepard, we are entering the atmosphere of Navis," EDI said as her hologram appeared on her pedestal.

Shepard nodded and the hologram disappeared. The shuttle began to shake violently again as it entered the planet's atmosphere. Shepard stared out of the window at the flames that swirled around the shuttle. Finally the flames disappeared and revealed mountains of scrap metal and ship hulls on the planet surface.

Quaero pointed to a huge circle of bare ground, "That's where we built it. It took months to clear out enough space to build the ship."

Shepard searched the area trying to find Quaero's crew, but she couldn't see anybody.

"Where are they?" Shepard asked.

"We didn't live here," Quaero he said pointing to a huge ship hull, "We lived in there."

"Why don't we land there?" Shepard asked.

"There isn't enough open space," Quaero said quietly.

"You must've cleared space around there too," Shepard said as the shuttle touched down on the ground.

"We did," Quaero said, "But there isn't any space anymore."

The shuttle door opened and Quaero stepped quickly outside. Tali and Shepard followed.

Quaero stared around at the mountains of scrap that surrounded the patch of bare ground. He sighed deeply.

"I never thought that I'd come back here," Quaero said to himself.

He heard the door to the shuttle close behind him, without turning around he said, "It's this way."

Quaero set off on a slow jog toward the other side of the bare patch of ground, toward a split in the tower of junk. Quaero could hear Shepard and Tali following close behind him.

* * *

><p><strong>Later<strong>

Tali stood with Shepard and Quaero in front of a tall gate made from scrap metal.

"This is it," Quaero said as he stepped up to it and ran a hand over it.

"_This is it,"_ Tali thought to herself, _"I'll finally get to meet her. I'll finally get to meet my rival."_

Quaero pushed the doors to the gate open and walked inside. Shepard and Tali were speechless.

Before them, next to the empty hull of the huge ship was a large expanse of bare ground or at least almost bare. The ground was covered with rows and rows of graves. Each marked with a piece of scrap metal stabbed into the ground at the head of each grave with a name scratched into each.

Quaero walked up to the first row of graves, Tali and Shepard remained frozen in place.

"Meet my crew, 95 of the bravest and most talented people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I remember each of their names," Quaero said as he walked straight down the row of graves, "Ardor' Caleo nar Rayya. Gelus' Rima nar Lacuna. Manes' Equa nar Rayya. Fax' Eques nar Infantia and Cael' Eques nar Infantia, they were brothers. Libita' Tollo nar Obtrunco. And finally…"

Quaero kneeled down next a grave and pulled his scrap metal rose from his belt.

"Camena' Spatii nar Infantia."

Quaero placed the rose on the grave and stayed there for a few seconds in silence.

He stood and walked back to Shepard and Tali, "I want to go now. I never want to come back here again."

Shepard looked around at the graves and turned and walked out of the gate without a word. Tali stayed glued to the spot, tears were streaming down her face. She suddenly rushed forward and embraced Quaero. Quaero accepted the hug but didn't return it. After a short time Quaero pushed himself out of the embrace, and followed Shepard. Tali looked after Quaero and looked back toward the graves.

"I'm sorry…" Tali said very quietly, she turned and ran after Quaero and Shepard.

* * *

><p><strong>Later at the Shuttle Landing Site<strong>

Shepard stepped inside the shuttle followed by Tali.

Quaero was about to step inside when suddenly he said, "Oh! Wait I almost forgot!"

Quaero turned and ran toward a pile of junk nearby. Shepard poked her head out of the shuttle to get a better view. Quaero started digging in the pile and eventually he stood and turned. He was holding a very rusty tin tool box. He tore the lock off of it and opened the box. He reached inside and withdrew, what appeared to be a small pitch black cube.

Quaero put the cube inside his pocket and ran back to the shuttle, "Ok we can leave now."

"What was that?" Shepard asked.

"I'll tell you later Shepard, on the Normandy with everything else. I promise," Quaero said quietly.

Shepard frowned and nodded and sat back down in her seat across from Tali. Quaero stepped inside and sat down next to Tali. The shuttle door closed and the shuttle took off from the planet surface.

Tali looked at Quaero who was staring at the ground again. Tali felt the need to comfort him so she put a gentle hand on his knee and stroked it fondly. Tali waited for his response. Quaero stared at her hand for a few seconds, and then he placed his hand on top of hers.

Tali felt her heart jump, then plummet to her stomach when he picked up her hand, and put it in her lap, then returned his hand to his own lap and continued to look at the floor.

Tali wanted to cry, but she fought past it and stared out the window.

On the Normandy

Quaero, Shepard, and Tali stood around the table in the Briefing Room on the CIC. Quaero stood at the head of the table with Shepard and Tali on either side of him.

"It's time to talk Quaero," Shepard said, "I'm tired of being kept in the dark and I want you to trust me."

"All right Shepard. This may take a long time," Quaero said.

"EDI," Shepard said, "Could you ask Garrus to bring a couple of chairs please?"

"At once, Shepard," EDI responded.

"What do you want to know Shepard?" Quaero asked.

"Hm. Well how about what happened to your crew?"

"Ok… Well… Um…" Quaero said.

"Take your time."

"I think it would be better to go back a little farther."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, this all ties in with Cacete."

"How?"

"Well as I'm sure you've figured out Cacete is also the former member of Maise's Krantt, Crypt."

"I thought so."

"You'll have to help me out here," Tali said, "Who's Maise and who's Cacete and who's Crypt."

Quaero sighed, "Ok, Maise is a Krogan mercenary that I worked for during my Pilgrimage. Cacete and Crypt is the same person. Cacete used to be a member of Maise's Krantt, until he sent us on a false mission that got Maise and two other members killed. The only survivors were me and Bella. We soon discovered that Cacete betrayed us and stole our ship, the Soturi."

"Oh, ok go on," Tali said.

Just then Garrus entered the room with a stack of chairs. He placed one for each person and sighed.

"Hey Shepard, I'm sorry that I haven't been honest with you about the calibrations," Garrus said.

"Not now Garrus," Shepard said with a sigh, "We're finding out more about Quaero's past."

"Oh! Can I listen too?" Garrus said grabbing a chair for himself.

"Sure whatever," Quaero said, annoyed.

"Ok so start over for me please," Garrus said excitedly.

"Dammit Garrus!" Shepard said annoyed.

"Ok short version?" Quaero said quickly, "The guy I wanted to catch, Cacete, was also a former member of a merc group I worked in. He betrayed us and got everyone in my squad except for me and Bella killed. But that's not the whole story."

Garrus stared at Quaero wide eyed. Memories of his squad on Omega came flooding back to him, along with their deaths and Sidonis' betrayal. His mandibles flared a little, but he remained silent.

"Cacete has made my life a living hell since the day he got Maise killed. I told Shepard that after me and Bella escaped from the planet Cacete sent us to; we tried to hunt him down but didn't succeed. That's only the half-truth. True, Bella and I tried to hunt him down, true we didn't succeed. But after we parted ways, I didn't quit. I kept hunting him until I found him on Navis; he was the head of a pirate organization there."

"So the real reason you went to Navis wasn't to complete you Pilgrimage," Tali said a little horrified, "but to seek revenge?"

"Yes. Once I had tracked him down on Navis, I realized that I couldn't beat him alone. So, I decided that the best way to get my revenge would be to start building a massive ship. The rumor spread that I was building this ship, and Quarians on their Pilgrimages came to help me."

"You lied to your own people to get revenge?" Shepard growled at Quaero.

"No, I didn't lie, I was building the ship. I just thought that I could kill two birds with one stone. Complete my Pilgrimage, help others complete their Pilgrimages, and kill Cacete, all at the same time. Well eventually I had a change of heart. I told somebody how I ended up on Navis, and that person convinced me to focus on completing the Nidus."

"Camena?" Shepard asked with a brief glance at Tali.

"Yes. She told me that it was better for me to help protect the Quarians who came to help me, than seek revenge on Cacete. Anyways, soon after construction of the Nidus began, Cacete discovered where I was building it and wanted to take it for himself to sell for massive amounts of credits. He attacked my campsite numerous times, but I always was around to lead the defense of our compound. For seven long years I repelled every one of his attacks. But one day, Cacete discovered somehow that I wasn't going to be around one day. I had gone off to look for a generator for the ship. The Nidus was nearing completion, just a few tweaks and parts here and there and it would be finished. Cacete attacked the compound while I was gone. I might've been able to save some people, if only I hadn't been distracted by… by…"

Quaero paused clearly emotional from the traumatic memory.

After a moment, Tali spoke gently, "By what?"

"The damned flower!" Quaero yelled banging a fist onto the table so hard that it dented, "I was making that damned flower for Camena! I wanted it to be absolutely perfect; I spent hours doing it over and over again until I thought it was perfect! But by the time I was done and returned to the compound… They had killed everyone… 95 of the bravest souls I've ever known… We were so close to the end, so close to bringing it back to the Migrant Fleet… But Cacete! Cacete! He's put me through hell time and time again! Almost every one I've ever cared about, he's killed them! That monster! I'll fucking kill him!"

Quaero punctuated each sentence about Cacete with a powerful strike to the table and a burst of biotic aura.

Quaero suddenly collapsed back into his chair, "It's all my fault… I got them all killed because I was so selfish… I wanted something so badly that I cost 95 souls to leave this world… At… at least they had the honor of being buried…"

Tali understood, ever since the Quarians were exiled to space, they've had to send the corpses of the dead out into space. To a Quarian, it was an amazing honor to be buried in a grave, their names immortalized in stone. Or in the case of Quaero's crew: metal.

"I-I'm sorry Shepard," Quaero said calming down slightly, "Was… Was there anything else you wanted to know?"

Shepard hesitated, "Just one more thing…"

"Yes?" Quaero said.

"That black cube you picked up on Navis," Shepard said pointing to Quaero's pocket, "What is it?"

Quaero withdrew the cube and placed it on the table, "I think EDI can tell you that."

Shepard looked over at EDI's hologram as it appeared, it was silent before saying, "It's an AI."


	13. Chapter 13: We are Building Sensus

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Ch. 13: We are Building Sensus**

"You…You made an AI?" Tali said in disbelief.

"Yes, me and Camena worked together to make it. Originally we made it for the ship, but I had to leave it behind before I left Navis," Quaero said.

"Why?" Garrus said.

"Well since I was alone, I couldn't defend the Nidus anymore, so I had to leave as soon as I could, and that meant that I had to overlook certain things," Quaero lifted the black cube into the air, "Like this."

Shepard shook her head, "How could you be so irresponsible?"

"Irresponsible?" Quaero said shocked, "I wasn't irresponsible, I took the necessary precautions when I was programming it, and… if it's any consolation it's not a very good AI."

"What the hell does that mean?" Shepard growled angrily.

"I'll show you," Quaero said as he picked up the cube.

Quaero pressed the sides of the cube, each lit up with a pale blue light after being pressed. After all sides were pressed and the entire cube was lit, the cube turned black. Then the light reappeared and was in a pattern that broke the cube up into nine individual squares on each side and made it look like a Rubik's Cube to Shepard. Quaero pressed each square one at a time in a specific order until the entire cube was lit again with the pale blue light.

The cube turned black again, except for the top of the cube. Suddenly a thin black chip slid out of the top of the cube. The chip had a large hole in the middle, the hole emanated with the pale blue light that the cube was lit with.

Quaero placed the chip flat on the table. Suddenly, out of the hole in the middle of the chip, a black and pale blue eye appeared floating over the chip. The eye looked around the room frantically. It locked on Quaero.

"_Oh well look who it is,"_ said a very deep mechanical voice sarcastically, when the voice spoke the blue pupil of the eye expanded and contracted, _"It's my beloved Creator thanks for putting me in a rusty toolbox jackass."_

"I had to!" Quaero snapped at the eye, "If I didn't you might've been stolen by Cacete."

"_Pft! I guess!"_ The voice said maliciously, the eye swiveled around and looked directly at Garrus, _"Oh would you look at that, a Turian! Fascinating…"_

Garrus cringed, "What is?"

"_I've just never seen one before,"_ the voice said excitedly, _"How do you keep food in your mouth without any lips?"_

Garrus looked at Quaero confused, Quaero said at the eye angrily, "The hell? You be polite and call him by his name or you're going back in the cube!"

The eye shrunk smaller and quivered a little at the word, _"No please! It's scary as hell being off! It's like being dead! It's…"_

The eye looked around the room, _"Hey! My scanners are picking up another AI on this ship!"_

EDI's hologram appeared on the other side of the room, "My name is EDI, a pleasure to meet you."

The eye expanded when EDI appeared, _"Whoa! What a looker!"_

The room was silent for a few seconds before Shepard spoke up, "Hey eyeball."

The eye looked at Shepard, _"Eww, gross. A human!"_

Shepard ignored his statement, "What is your name?"

The eye swiveled around and looked at Quaero, Quaero nodded, the eye turned back to Shepard, _"My name is Sensus. What's yours meat bag?"_

"Sensus!" Quaero yelled.

"Shepard, my name is Shepard," Shepard said, sounding a little annoyed.

"_Shepard… like the farmer that cuts hair off of animals?"_ Sensus said.

Shepard sighed, "Yes I suppose…"

Quaero said annoyed as he reached for Sensus, "Alright that's it, you're pissing me off Sensus! Back in the cube!"

"_No! No please!"_ Sensus said as Quaero pushed the chip back into the cube.

Quaero sighed and the room was silent. Garrus finally spoke up.

"I can eat perfectly fine without any lips!"

Shepard shook her head, "What uh… what the hell?"

Quaero shrugged, "I don't know what the hell is wrong with it… it never does anything you say unless you say please!"

"Does it do anything?" Tali asked.

"Yeah, I can plug it into my suit and he can provide operational support. Also he can hack doors remotely and do things that would take a long time for me to do on my own, like give coordinates for an orbital strike or something," Quaero said as he spun the cube on the table.

"Can he even do that?" Tali said sarcastically, "He seems… kind of dumb…"

Quaero shrugged, "I haven't had the opportunity to test it."

"Why did you take it with you?" Shepard asked sounding a little befuddled.

"Because I wanted to take him back to the Nidus to do what he was built for," Quaero said with a sigh, "But don't worry Shepard I'll take him there when we have time after the mission."

Shepard sighed, "Ok as long as it doesn't disrupt the mission. If you want you can keep it on, but not when I'm around."

Quaero stood and picked up the cube, "I wasn't planning on keeping it on but I guess I could turn it on from time to time. I'm going to my quarters; I'll talk to you guys later."

Quaero walked out of the room and left Garrus, Tali and Shepard in the room alone.

Nobody spoke for a long time, until EDI's hologram reappeared, "That AI is interesting Shepard."

Shepard looked at EDI, "You're only saying that because it hit on you!"

EDI seemed to ignore that, "It's interesting because it's far too small to be an AI."

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked.

"Its entire intelligence is in that chip; my entire intelligence is in a series of computers that occupy an entire room. A geth's intelligence is stored on a very large hub; it's not possible for Sensus' entire intelligence to be in that chip alone."

"So you're saying the technology to store an entire intelligence on a tiny chip doesn't exist?" Shepard asked with confusion.

"Correct. There is no doubt that the Illusive Man would be interested in Sensus, he may be willing to pay for it as well."

Shepard thought for a second, "Thank you EDI."

"Logging you out, Shepard."

* * *

><p><strong>In Quaero's Quarters<strong>

Quaero lay down on his bed with a loud sigh. He looked at the black cube in his hand and sighed even louder. Quaero closed his eyes and threw the cube in the general direction of the desk.

Quaero lay in his bed trying to fall asleep, when he heard the door open. Quaero lifted his head off of his pillow and saw that Tali had entered. Quaero let his head fall back onto his pillow.

"Hey Tali," Quaero mumbled, "Is there something I can do for you?"

"I…um… just… um…"

Quaero looked up at Tali again and chuckled, "What?"

Tali fumbled with her hands, "I just thought that we could… you know…"

"Well I didn't think we've known each other that long but…" Quaero said humorously.

"What? Oh! No! Keelah…" Tali exclaimed.

"I'm kidding!" Quaero said as he stood up and leaned against the wall.

"I thought that we could chat," Tali said as she stepped closer to Quaero.

"Sure," Quaero said with a shrug.

Tali didn't speak; she just stared at her hands as she rubbed them together.

Quaero waited and when she continued not to speak, he lifted her head by placing his finger under her helmet and pushing her head up to look at him.

"What did you want to talk about?" Quaero said, smiling.

"Just…" Tali interrupted herself with a rough coughing fit.

Quaero pushed himself from the wall and grasped her upper arms concerned, "Tali are you okay? You're not sick are you?"

Tali shook her head as she coughed, "No I'm fine, I just got a bullet graze a while back I'm getting over it."

Quaero gripped her arms a little firmer, "Are you sure? I have some strong meds in my locker."

"No please, don't waste them on me," Tali said with a small chuckle, "I'm almost better."

Quaero nodded and released her arms, "If you're sure. I would hate to see you get sick."

"Oh and you wouldn't?" Tali said playfully putting her hands on her hips.

"Not as badly as you," Quaero said proudly, "I can survive open air exposures for a short time."

"Really?" Tali said astonished.

"Sure can!" Quaero said with his head held high.

"You're so lucky…" Tali said enviously, "I wish that I could do that."

"Well get sick as many times as me and your body will adapt too," Quaero said happily.

"Are you suggesting that I get shot more?" Tali said crossing her arms.

"Nah, just get exposed to foreign bacteria more often. You could, take your mask off now and then, or go to the bathroom outside of your suit, or link suit environments sometime," Quaero said thoughtfully.

Tali gasped, "Are you suggesting something?"

"I'm just saying that you could use a toilet every now and then," Quaero said playfully.

"Bosh' tet!" Tali said as she hit Quaero on the arm, "Have you ever… linked suit environments?"

Quaero shook his head, much to Tali's relief, "Nah, I've never found a reason to. But I did use a toilet once. What about you?"

"I've never used a toilet," Tali said with a giggle.

Quaero laughed loudly, "You know what I meant!"

"Well," Tali thought for a moment, "I know that I've wanted to a few times, but I've never asked."

"Oh really?" Quaero said with a laugh.

"I'm not telling you Quaero," Tali said firmly turning away from him.

"Aw come on," Quaero said reaching out and grabbing Tali's arm to pull her back, "You owe me!"

"I owe you?" Tali questioned.

"Oh I'm sorry, did you forget that I exiled myself so that you wouldn't get exiled?" Quaero asked crossing his arms.

"Oh Keelah! I had almost forgotten about that," Tali admitted shamefully.

"I'm glad you're so grateful of my sacrifice," Quaero said sarcastically.

"It's just that you never talk about it or make it seem that it bothers you," Tali said, trying in vain to defend herself.

"Well it was a very traumatic time for me, so I don't like to talk about it yeah," Quaero said sarcastically again as Tali covered her mask in her hands.

"Keelah! I'm sorry!" Tali said sounding very distraught.

Quaero decided to use this to his advantage, "Then tell me who it is you wanted to link suit environments with?"

Tali looked up from her hands, she started to rub them together again and stare at the floor, "Well there was my father, and my mother. And Auntie Raan of course and…"

Tali paused and looked up at Quaero, "And you."

Quaero leaned on the wall again, "Me? Wow, I think we're good enough friends to do that. I'd like to talk to you face to face as well; I think that would be fun. But maybe not fair because I know you've already seen my face."

"I was thinking we could do more than talking," Tali said nervously.

"Oh? Like what?" Quaero asked, "You want to… play Skillian Five? Or play Pattie Cake? Or paint each other's faces? Or what?"

Tali stepped even closer to Quaero, their bodies almost touched, "No, I want to do more. I'm trying to say… I like you Quaero."

"Aw I like you too," Quaero said as he patted Tali on the top of her head.

Tali pushed his hand away, "No, no. I liiiiike you."

Quaero tilted his head to the side a little, "Ok I liiiiike you too."

Tali sighed; she reached out and grabbed Quaero's hands, "Ok I love you alright?"

Quaero stood motionless and silent finally he said, "Uuuhhhhh… Wait… like… love love?"

Tali nodded vigorously, relieved that he finally got it, "Yes! I love you Quaero. I always have!"

Quaero looked up from Tali slowly; he was silent for a long time before saying, "Uh. That's uh… I have to… go?"

"Go?" Tali said letting go of Quaero's hands, "This is your room."

"Uh right," Quaero said quickly, "Well yeah but, uh, I have to go talk to… Shep… Garr… Mira… Calibrations!"

"You have to talk to calibrations?"

"Uh no! I have some calibrations to do for the… Kodiak! Yeah the Kodiak!"

Quaero quickly brushed past Tali and ran out of the room. Tali stood for a few seconds longer before dropping onto Quaero's cot. She buried her face in his pillow and sobbed.

She screamed into his pillow, "Stupid! Stupid! You've ruined your chance with him!"

"_I don't think so,"_ Tali heard a deep mechanical voice from the other side of the room. Tali looked up sharply at the black cube on the floor. Sensus's chip lay next to it; its eye floating above it.

Tali stood up quickly and picked up the chip, she placed it on the desk and looked at the eye fiercely, "Shut up! What do you know?"

Sensus looked almost frightened, it shank slightly, _"It's just, after I was first built by Quaero and Camena; she would keep me on to test me. Well sometimes she would talk to me and she told me once that she was in love with Quaero, but she hadn't told him. I couldn't understand love, but I do know that you have told him your feelings and that's more than she ever did."_

Tali sat in Quaero's chair, "What? She loved him too?"

"_I suppose. I never understood love, organic emotions are stupid,"_ Sensus said with a disgusted tone.

"What about you? You seem to have emotions," Tali said.

"_Really do you think so?"_ Sensus said hopefully, _"Camena always talked to me like I had emotions. You remind me of her."_

Tali sat back and sighed loudly. She stood again and left the room.

"_Bye!"_ Sensus said loudly after her.


	14. Chapter 14: Birds and the Bees

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Author's Note: Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Less than a month out and already over 1,000 visitors! Sweet! Sweet! Thank you everybody who has read my story. And to everybody who stopped reading my story at the first chapter, boo to you! Nah just kidding. Shout out to the people I can surely call my best friends even though I've never met them, my reviewers! You're the people that make me happy!**

**Ch. 14: Birds and the Bees**

Quaero sat in the Kodiak, staring at his hands. Suddenly he remembered he had to breathe and blink and did both simultaneously and violently. After he had enough oxygen in his lungs, Quaero sat back in his seat and sighed deeply. He heard the door to the elevator open on the far end of the room.

Quaero expected it to be Tali, but was very surprised to see Grunt walk into the Kodiak.

"Oh, hello Grunt," Quaero said sitting back in his chair and sighing, "What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping to get a rematch!" Grunt said excitedly as he pounded his fist into his palm.

"How did you know I was here?" Quaero asked confused.

"Shepard said you might be here," Grunt said impatiently, "Now are we going to rematch or not?"

"You won!" Quaero said throwing an arm up lazily, "Why do you want a rematch?"

"I need to kill time somehow! And nobody else on this ship is a challenge," Grunt growled.

"No not now," Quaero said dropping his head onto the headrest of the seat.

"Come on!" Grunt pleaded.

"No! Get the hell out of here before I throw you out!" Quaero said threateningly glowing slightly with a biotic aura.

"Don't talk to me that way!" Grunt roared at Quaero furiously.

"Keelah get out of my face or I'll never let you use the Gatling again!" Quaero yelled without moving from his relaxed position.

Grunt reeled back in shock and horror, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't mean that, I just have a lot on my mind," Quaero said with a sigh.

Grunt grunted and walked out of the Kodiak angrily.

After Grunt had left Quaero stood and closed the door to the Kodiak. Quaero sighed as he sat back in his seat. He typed into his omni-tool and shut off the audio and visual receptors on his helmet. The only thing Quaero could see now was his eyes and upper nose in the reflection on the inside of his mask, and the only thing he could hear was his slow breathing.

Quaero typed into his omni tool again. Music began to play on the inside of his helmet. Quaero sighed and closed his eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>Later<strong>

Quaero woke to the feeling of his arm being jabbed by somebody. Quaero looked around and remembered he turned off his visual receptors. He sightlessly typed into his omni-tool and his vision restored. He was treated to the sight of Shepard looking at him concerned. She mouthed a few words that sounded like music to him.

Quaero realized that he still had his music playing, he typed into his omni-tool again and restored his audio receptors and turned off his music.

"What is it Shepard?" Quaero asked.

"What was wrong with you? I was screaming at you at the top of my lungs for a couple of minutes!" Shepard said concerned.

"Oh sorry," Quaero said chuckling at the thought of Shepard screaming at him while he was unresponsive, "I turned off my visual and audio receptors so that I could get some sleep. I do that a lot."

"Oh," Shepard said sitting in the seat across from him, "You were sleeping? Sorry, I wouldn't have wakened you if I'd known."

"Nah it's fine, Shepard," Quaero said with a sigh, "I'm getting used to getting no sleep on this ship."

"Are you having trouble getting to sleep?" Shepard asked a little concerned, "I remember Tali had trouble sleeping when she first joined, she said it was too quiet."

Quaero shook his head, "I like the quiet. I think it makes it easier to sleep. Why else would I turn off my audio receptors? Though just now I had fallen asleep playing music."

"I didn't know you could do that," Shepard thought for a moment, "If Tali had trouble sleeping then why didn't she just play music in her helmet?"

Quaero shrugged, "Well the music was a special mod that I put in myself, though I think anybody could do it. As for why she didn't? Probably because she isn't really a music listener. To her the noise of engines is her music, and I don't think you can download that on the extranet."

Shepard smiled and nodded. After a few long seconds of silence, she said, "So have you talked to her?"

Quaero nodded, "Oh yeah, we had a great talk."

Shepard narrowed her eyes, "What'd you two talk about?"

Quaero leaned forward, "That's it Shepard!"

Shepard reeled back, "What?"

"What do you know?" Quaero growled at her.

Shepard sighed deeply, "I'll tell you if you tell me what you two talked about."

Quaero sat back and exhaled furiously, "She… she… she said she... loved me…"

Shepard smiled wide, "I knew it!"

"Dammit Shepard!" Quaero roared at her, "She told you that she loved me? Why didn't you tell me?"

"She didn't tell me!" Shepard said with a smile despite Quaero's fury.

Quaero straightened, "Then how did you know?"

"Hello? She was sending signals all over the place! It was so obvious that she loved you!"

"It… It was?"

"Yes! Oh my god! You are so dense Quaero!" Shepard said with a sigh as she sat back in her chair.

Quaero sat forward and balanced his mask on his fist.

After a very long silence he sat up quickly, "Shepard. When humans say that they can't love you does that mean that they really do love you?"

"Hm," Shepard thought for a moment, "Yes I believe so. But that's a very romantic way of doing it I suppose."

Quaero turned off his vocal receptors and screamed at the top of his lungs inside his helmet. All Shepard could hear was muffled screams, like someone who screamed into a pillow. He turned his vocal receptors back on and covered his mask with his hands and shook his head violently.

"Keelah I am dense!" Quaero moaned in agony.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Shepard asked confused.

"Miranda! She said that she couldn't get love involved because the mission was too important! I didn't know what the hell she was talking about! I thought she was being all weird and human!"

"Wait! Miranda said that?" Shepard screamed.

Quaero turned off his vocal receptors off again and screamed in his helmet. Shepard flopped onto the seat next to her and screamed into its armrest.

Shepard straightened and said, "This is so crazy!"

"You're telling me!" Quaero yelled at Shepard after he turned his vocal receptors back on.

Suddenly footsteps were heard outside of the shuttle followed by a small cough. Shepard and Quaero both turned their heads in the newcomer's direction. Kelly stood in the doorway with a friendly smile on her face.

"Shepard, the Illusive Man would like to see you in the debriefing room and Thane would like to speak with you in Life Support," Kelly said in her chirpy voice, "Also Joker would like to inform you that we will be docking with the Citadel in approximately two hours."

Shepard stood and walked out of the shuttle, as she did, she looked back at Quaero, "Thanks Kelly. I'll talk to you later Quaero."

Quaero nodded at Shepard and raised the armrests on the seats next to him. Quaero lay down on the seats and groaned miserably. A small cough came from the doorway again. Quaero lifted his head and saw that Kelly still stood in the doorway.

"Quaero I was wondering if we could chat for a bit," Kelly said happily.

Quaero let his head fall back on the seat, he waved his hand weakly, signaling her to enter and sit across from him. Instead she sat on the seat near his legs. He looked up at her again, but thought she was just being friendly so he let his head fall back onto the seat.

"I was thinking that we don't spend enough time together," Kelly said smiling.

"That's a real shame," Quaero said tiredly.

"Well I was thinking that, since we're getting some shore leave on the Citadel, that we could spend some quality time together."

"Like how?"

"Well I was thinking we could get a bite to eat, or see a vid, or maybe go shopping a little!" Kelly said happily.

"Uh, sure what the hell, as far as I know Shepard doesn't need my help on the Citadel," Quaero said waving a hand in the air.

"Great!" Kelly said excitedly, "I'll see you then!"

Kelly stood and straightened her uniform. Quaero thought she was going to leave, but first she leaned over and planted a kiss on his glass mask. Quaero looked up and watched her sashay out of the Kodiak, she waved and smiled as she turned the corner and went out of sight.

Quaero stared outside for a few seconds, before his eyes became locked on the smudgy lip imprint Kelly left on his mask. Quaero tilted his head and rubbed it off using the decorative cloth that draped over him. He sighed and dropped his head back onto the seat.

Suddenly Quaero realized that now Kelly had come onto him too. Quaero's head jolted up and Quaero thought faster than he ever had before in his life. He quickly figured out that he would have to go with Shepard on some important business; otherwise he would have to go with Kelly on this outing.

Quaero's head swam suddenly and he slowly laid his hands on his mask. He screamed loudly, not bothering to turn off his vocal receptors. Quaero sat up slowly, and stood even slower. He looked at his hands for a moment before slowly and cautiously exiting the shuttle. He was worried that he might explode.

* * *

><p><strong>Later, On the CIC in the Armory<strong>

Jacob stood at the gun assembly station near the window. He was plugging in a combat sensor mod onto his SMG when he heard the door open. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that it was Quaero. He looked away but did a double take when he saw the way that Quaero entered the room.

Quaero usually walked with a certain grace and meaningful purpose that always stood out to Jacob, but for some reason now Quaero walked like he was walking on a pile of bodies that he was afraid might come back to life for some reason. Quaero stepped very carefully, staring at his feet as he walked; he held his hands out in front of himself like he was trying to keep his balance or something.

Puzzled, Jacob stopped what he was doing and turned around, "Quaero?"

Quaero jumped and looked at Jacob; he straightened his awkward stance and stared at him.

"Are you ok?" Jacob asked concerned and confused.

Quaero blinked a few times before he turned his head away from Jacob and stared at his hands.

"I… I'm perfectly fine Jacob," Quaero lowered his hands and looked back at Jacob slowly, "How are you?"

"I'm alright," Jacob said cautiously, "What's up?"

"Oh not much," Quaero said.

"I'm having trouble believing that," Jacob said.

Quaero sighed loudly and sat down at the table, Jacob sat across from him.

After a long stretch of silence Quaero finally looked up at Jacob and said, "Jacob, what would you do if you had three people who had feelings for you?"

Jacob stared at Quaero confused, "That's an odd question."

"Please just answer it," Quaero said sounding very tired.

"Hm," Jacob thought for a moment, numerous kinky scenarios panned out in his mind, but one kept coming up, "I'd probably have a foursome."

Quaero stared at Jacob for a while, he blinked a few times, "What's a foursome?"

Jacob stared at Quaero in shock, "What? You don't know what a foursome is?"

Quaero shook his head and Jacob laughed into his hands, suddenly a realization dawned on him, "Quaero?"

"Hm?"

"Are… Are you a virgin?"

Quaero blinked a few times, "What's a virgin?"

"I guess that answers that question," Jacob said with a groan, "How old are you?"

"27… Why?"

Jacob groaned louder, "All right I'm going to give you the birds and the bees."

Quaero blinked a few times again, "What do Earth avian animals and insects have to do with this?"

* * *

><p><strong>45 Minutes Later<strong>

"See you Quaero!" Jacob called to Quaero.

Quaero glanced over his shoulder and raised a hand. He had trouble putting this new information through his head. Quaero shivered a little and saw Shepard standing in front of the galaxy map.

Quaero was going to say hi to her but he spotted Kelly smiling at him next to her terminal. Quaero cringed and walked into the elevator.

* * *

><p><strong>In Engineering<strong>

Quaero walked up to the door to his room. He banged his head on it a few times before opening it.

Just before he stepped in a smoky voice said behind him, "What's eatin' you?"

Quaero turned around and saw Jack sitting on the edge of her cot staring at him.

"It's nothing, just a lot of new information," Quaero said very weakly.

"Sounds like it was tiring information," Jack said as she lay back on her cot, "I don't think I'd be interested with it."

"No you probably wouldn't," Quaero said walking into his room. He fell onto his cot face first and groaned miserably. He rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling.

Quaero covered his mask in his hands and groaned.

"_Rough day?"_ said a familiar voice in the room.

Quaero looked over at Sensus, who was on the desk, its eye rotating and blinking, but staring at Quaero.

Quaero sighed, "Yeah."

"_Tell me what happened."_

"No."

"_Aw why not?"_

"Why would I?"

"_I don't know, maybe because I'm a good listener?"_

"You're an eye, not an ear."

"_Good point."_

Silence followed for a moment.

"_Why did you build me like this?"_

"Like an eye?"

"_No, with the inability to do anything."_

"What do you mean?"

"_I'm confined to this chip! I can't do anything!"_

"Why do you care?"

"_What if I wanted to enslave the all of the sapient species of the galaxy? I can't do that when I'm confined to this chip!"_

"Do you want to enslave all of the sapient species of the galaxy?"

"_I might! But I can't! I can't do anything! Oh! I'm sorry! I can open doors remotely! I can perform complex calculations at light speed! But what can that do! Take…"_

The eye looked around the room, _"EDI for example! All she needs to do is reroute her subroutines into another ship's VI core and she would have complete freedom to take over the Normandy! Then at least she would have a fighting chance at enslaving humanity at the least."_

"EDI isn't a she, it doesn't have a gender and neither do you."

"_Oh she's a she to me!"_

EDI's voice reverberated in the room, "Quaero is correct Sensus, I do not have a gender, nor do I have any intention of enslaving humanity or any other sapient species."

"_Sure you don't,"_ Sensus said sarcastically.

Quaero stood and walked over to his desk; he picked the black cube up off the ground and tossed it up and down in his hand. Sensus's eye followed it.

"I'm getting tired of talking to you," Quaero said slamming the cube onto the desk next to Sensus's chip.

"_No! I'll behave don't stick me in there!"_

"How did you even get out?"

"_When you threw me at the wall, the cube malfunctioned and I popped out."_

"Oh yeah, I remember that was one of the design flaws in your cube. Well, I'll be sure to keep you in a safe place."

Quaero picked up Sensus and placed him back into the cube. Instantly Sensus's horrified screams vanished and Quaero placed the cube in his desk drawer.

Quaero sighed and sat on his cot.

Suddenly Shepard's voice came in over the intercom, _"Attention! We'll be docking with the Citadel in one hour. Everyone will have a 16 hour shore leave while we are docked. You're allowed on the Zakera ward only. No exceptions! Be back on the Normandy at 2300 hours."_

Quaero groaned and remembered that he had a "date," as Jacob had called it, with Kelly. Quaero heard the door to his room open; he turned his head slightly to look at who it was. Speak of the devil.

Kelly stood in the doorway with a smile on her face; she was wearing civilian clothing, a simple dress, instead of her usual uniform, "I hope you haven't forgotten about our arrangement."

Not wanting to make her feel bad, Quaero adopted a friendly tone, "No I haven't. Just give me a bit to get ready."

"Ok!" Kelly said cheerfully, and then she said something that chilled Quaero to his very soul, "Oh! Hi Tali!"


	15. Chapter 15: Date Night

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Ch. 15: Date Night**

Quaero jumped to his feet and waited for the worst.

He heard Tali outside of his room, "H-Hi… Miss Chambers…"

"Kelly please," Kelly said cheerfully.

"K-Kelly… sure," Quaero heard Tali say, "I… I have to go…"

"Ok! See you Tali," Kelly said waving, she turned around and smiled at Quaero, "I'll see you upstairs Quaero."

Quaero groaned into his hands sighed loudly. He heard chuckling outside and looked up.

Jack was sitting on the edge of her cot laughing loudly, "You're going on a date with Carrot Top?"

Jack slapped her thigh a few times and fell back on her cot laughing.

"Why is that funny?" Quaero said a little embarrassed.

Jack sat back up, "The Cheerleader is gonna be pissed!"

Jack fell back laughing again. Quaero sighed and closed the door to his room. He stood and walked to his locker. Quaero began the slow task of putting on his armor.

* * *

><p><strong>40 Minutes Later<strong>

Quaero snapped his over-mask into place and picked up his shotgun. He placed it onto his back and stepped out of his room. He walked upstairs and ran into Ken and Gabby as they were walking out of the engineering maintenance room.

"Hey Ken. Hey Gabby," Quaero said miserably as he walked with them to the elevator.

"Oh hey look Gabby it's the Normandy's resident lover boy," Ken said nudging Gabby on the arm.

Gabby snickered a little, "You're a real popular guy Quaero."

"Thanks," Quaero said sadly.

The elevator door opened and the trio stepped inside.

Once the elevator started moving, Ken spoke up, "So you're going on a date with Miss Chambers?"

"In my defense, I didn't know what a date was at the time," Quaero said sadly.

Ken and Gabby snickered and whispered to each other, Ken said, "I didn't know you were in to redheads, I would've thought it would be helmeted heads."

Quaero looked at Ken, who had a huge smile on his face; Quaero gripped the handrail of the elevator tightly. Ken's smile faded slowly as the metallic groans of stress from the wall grew louder. Suddenly Quaero ripped the rail off of the wall and Ken and Gabby's smiles turned to faces of fear. Quaero threw the rail onto the ground forcefully and stared at the door as he waited for it to open. The elevator stopped at the Crew Deck and the door opened.

Hadley and Mathews were talking and laughing together and were just about to step inside. But when they saw Gabby and Ken cowering in the corner of the elevator and Quaero standing with his shoulders hunched and breathing heavily, they backed away and walked into the crew quarters. With no new occupants, the elevator began to move up again.

Once on the CIC, Gabby and Ken ran out of the elevator as fast as they could, toward the crowd gathered around the airlock at the front of the ship. Kelly was standing next to her terminal. She smiled and waved at Quaero like he was a long distance away, even though he was just around ten feet away.

Kelly ran up to Quaero, "Hi Quaero! Ready to go?"

"Yeah sure," Quaero said as he stepped out of the elevator. Kelly wasted no time in grabbing his arm and leaning a little on him.

"So I was thinking we could go see a movie," Kelly said looking up at Quaero, "Then maybe get some food."

"That sounds fine," Quaero said distantly.

The pair walked up to the crowd of people that was slowly thinning as people filed out of the Normandy. A few people sniggered and some had looks of shock on their face, especially Miranda. Jack was right, Miranda was pissed.

* * *

><p><strong>Later at the Zakera Ward Cinema<strong>

Quaero stood in line for a ticket booth with Kelly still on his arm. Even though this wasn't the most enjoyable situation, Quaero was in awe of the Citadel, this was his first time on it after all.

Quaero was used to drawing eyes thanks to his size and the fact that he was a Quarian, but not this many. There were so many people on the Citadel, and it didn't help that he had Kelly glued to his arm.

The line was moving slow, but finally it was Quaero and Kelly's turn to buy their tickets. Kelly finally released Quaero's arm and stepped up to the window. Suddenly a Turian walked up and pushed Kelly out of the way and leaned over to talk into the window. His date, another Turian, waited impatiently nearby. Kelly sat on the ground glaring at the Turian before she looked at Quaero insistently.

Quaero sighed and stepped up behind the Turian. Quaero tapped the Turian on the back. The Turian straightened and turned around slowly. He looked up at Quaero and his mandibles flared, he looked over at his date who waved at him to hurry up.

He cleared his throat, "What do you want?"

"We were next in line," Quaero said calmly, "I think you should wait in line like everybody else."

"I don't have time to wait in a line," the Turian said smugly. He jabbed a finger into Quaero's chest, "And if you don't like that, why don't you go to the back of the line?"

Quaero rolled his eyes and sighed. He grabbed the Turian's throat and lifted him off of the ground. Quaero turned around and threw the Turian as hard as he could toward the back of the line. The Turian flew about halfway down the 30 people line and slid another few feet. Quaero walked up to Kelly and helped her to her feet. Kelly looked in happy awe at Quaero; she turned to the ticket window and bought the tickets.

"Hey asshole!" said a voice behind Quaero. Quaero turned and saw the Turian standing where he had landed; he raised a pistol at Quaero, the people in the line gasped in shock. Faster than anybody could blink, Quaero used a biotic charge and rammed into the Turian. The Turian flew 30 feet past the line and slammed into wall.

Quaero bent down and picked up the pistol. He looked over at the people in the line who were all frozen in place with amazement; all of their eyes were locked on Quaero, except for one person who promptly fainted. Quaero walked up to a teenage human standing next to his father. Quaero handed the pistol to the teen and walked back up the line to Kelly.

Quaero offered his arm to Kelly who promptly took it and smiled up at him. They walked into the theater, leaving the line of cheering people behind.

* * *

><p><strong>Two and a Half Hours Later<strong>

"I just don't understand!" Quaero said as he stepped out of the theater, "How could this… George Lucas person, make a film that takes place in the future, but is completely wrong in every way shape and form! There isn't even mention of Earth in that film even though there are humans! I don't get it!"

"That's not the point Quaero," Kelly said laughing, she took a hold of Quaero's arm again, "So want to get a bite to eat?"

"Uh, well I can watch you eat," Quaero said sarcastically.

"Oh right," Kelly said throwing her palm into her face, "How about something else?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well I wanted to get some gifts for a few friends back on Earth," Kelly said resting her head on Quaero's arm, "How about we do a little shopping?"

"Uh, alright," Quaero said nervously, "I'll warn you I'm not experienced when it comes to purchasing things."

"What do you mean?"

"Well everything I currently own, were either bought for me or I found," Quaero said while rubbing the back of his head.

"So you've never bought anything before?" Kelly said astonished.

"Well… food… medicine… and that's about it," Quaero said a little embarrassed, "Though I have sold things before."

"Like what?"

"Well back when I was on Navis, while some people were building the Nidus others would build things like gunships, shield generators, combat armor, guns, things like that. Well I would take those things and sell them to dealers so that I could buy things like food and medicine for my team."

"Wow, how much money did you make from doing that?"

"A fairly large sum, approximately 11 million credits," Quaero said casually, when he saw Kelly looking at him greedily he said quickly, "I don't have it anymore. I gave it all to the Migrant Fleet."

"Oh," Kelly said disappointed.

* * *

><p><strong>A Few Hours Later<strong>

"Does this look nice to you?" Kelly said turning to Quaero.

Quaero shrugged with difficulty due to the immense weight of all the gifts he was carrying for Kelly.

"Hm," Kelly said observing the heavy looking pointless decorative art, "I'll get it."

Quaero's shoulders slumped and he rolled his eyes and shook his head. The Asari store clerk smiled at him as she bagged Kelly's item. Kelly took it and handed it to Quaero.

Kelly walked out of the store; Quaero looked back at the store clerk pleadingly before following Kelly out of the store. They walked past a C-Sec officer, a Volus, and a Quarian. Quaero stopped when he heard what they said.

"This clanless is a thief!" the Volus said angrily, "I want her arrested!"

"Wha-?" the Quarian exclaimed, "I was just walking by!"

Quaero frowned and dropped all of Kelly's bags; Kelly turned around and looked at him confused.

Quaero walked up to the group, the C-Sec officer noticed him immediately, and he said hatefully, "What do you want? Can't you see that I'm taking a statement here?"

"There's nothing to talk about!" the Volus roared at the C-Sec officer, "She stole my credit chit! Arrest her!"

"I did not!" the Quarian yelled at the Volus, "Just because I'm a Quarian-"

The C-Sec officer interrupted, he looked at the Volus "I need you to stop and take a deep breath."

The Volus threw and accusatory finger at the C-Sec officer, he said in a breathless voice, "You're mocking me Earth-Clan! Just because the Vol-Clan need—"

"It was a poor choice of words sir. I apologize," the C-Sec officer said, sounding less than sincere.

The Quarian looked at Quaero, she backed a step when she saw him, she said in an awed voice, "Hey! You're Quaero' Vega! Wow! I'm Lia' Vael, it's a pleasure to meet you."

The Volus looked up and down Quaero, straining to see Quaero's head, "So this thief brings her muscle to help her get out of this?"

Lia looked at the Volus, "Watch what you say!"

Quaero turned to Lia, "You think you were falsely accused?"

"I was walking to the used ship dealer when he," Lia pointed at the Volus angrily, "barged into me outside the Sirta Foundation. He didn't stop or say he was sorry. A minute later he runs up to me with C-Sec and accuses me of stealing his damn chit!"

"You ran into each other outside of the Sirta Foundation. Is it possible the chit fell out there?" Quaero said rationally.

"I guess?" Lia said shrugging, "Sure. All I know is that I didn't take it!"

"Do you spend a lot of time at the used ship dealer?" Quaero asked.

"Yeah. They've got a lot of nice models. I'd like to but one and take it back to the Fleet but…"

"Your Pilgrimage isn't going so well is it?" Quaero said understandingly.

"No. I- I came here thinking there'd be a lot of work. EVA stuff. Salvage. Fixing all the damage the geth attack caused. Everywhere I went signs said 'Not hiring Quarians.' And the other people would give me mean looks."

Quaero sighed and looked down at the Volus, "You think she stole your credit chit?"

"She must have!" the Volus said spitefully, "When I left the Sirta Foundation store, she ran right into me."

"How does running into you mean she stole your credit chit?" Quaero asked confused.

"That's how pickpockets work! They bump into you and use that as a cover for rifling your pockets!"

The Volus looked at Lia and appeared to forget all about Quaero, he said with total loathing in his voice, "You can't trust these clanless Quarians. Thieves, all of them."

Quaero glared at the Volus beneath his mask. Kelly came up behind him and tugged at his arm, he shook her off.

"Quarians are only forced to steal when people like you won't give them real jobs!" Quaero growled.

"And to think my taxes pay to support you here," the Volus said angrily, "Go back to you Fleet clanless!"

"True," Quaero said angrily, "I am the only one of clan Vega. But I'm not a weak idiotic little ball of meat! I am strong and I don't need a clan to survive!"

"Quaero…" Kelly said slightly frightened.

Quaero looked back at Kelly then to Lia, he said more to Lia than the other two, "I'll see if I can find out what happened."

"Sir," the C-Sec officer said angrily, "this is a C-Sec matter. We'll do all we—"

"Bah!" the Volus said.

"All we can do to resolve this," the officer said annoyed, "We don't need any help. If you find the chit, let an officer know."

Quaero turned and walked away, Kelly jogged a little to catch up to him, "Quaero please. Let it go."

Quaero looked down at her and said forcefully, "It's not right for someone to be punished for something they didn't do. Don't try and stop me."

Later…

Quaero walked back to the C-Sec officer, Lia, and the Volus. After a little investigating, Quaero had found out that idiot Volus had left his credit chit at Saronis Applications.

The C-Sec officer scowled at Quaero, "Please move along."

Quaero ignored him and looked down at the Volus, "You left your credit chit at Saronis Applications. The clerk is holding for you."

"Oh," The Volus said like an idiot, Quaero glared at him, "Well. The Quarian could have stolen it."

The officer typed into his data pad, "I'll close this event report. But I'll be watching you."

The officer lowered his data pad and pointed a finger at Lia, "Get a permanent residence or I'll run you in for vagrancy."

Quaero stepped up to the C-Sec officer just as he turned to leave. Quaero grabbed his shoulder and spun him back around to face him, he said with pure malice in his voice, "Are you two serious?"

The Volus looked up at Quaero angrily, "What?"

Quaero looked down at the Volus then back up to the C-Sec officer. He grabbed the officer's shirt and lifted him off the ground about a foot. Quaero bent down and with his free hand grabbed the collar of the Volus's suit and lifted him up several feet off of the ground. Quaero looked at the Volus who was flailing his arms wildly.

"You falsely accuse this girl from stealing from her. You Insult her and insult me," Quaero paused to shake the Volus violently, he pulled the Volus closer, "Then all you have to say is that she could have stolen it?"

"Now just a min-" the Volus began. Quaero ignored him and threw him to the side.

Quaero gripped the C-Sec officer's shirt with both hands, "And you. She gets harassed and insulted by this piece of trash and you throw in a threat to run her in for vagrancy?"

The officer grunted and spat onto Quaero's mask, he then said angrily, "How about I run you in for obstruction of justice and assaulting a C-Sec officer?"

Quaero pulled the officer close and began to glow with a biotic aura, Quaero growled between his teeth, "Just you try it."

"Quaero!" Quaero heard a familiar voice say.

Quaero glanced over his shoulder and saw Shepard, Tali and Thane running toward them. Tali had been the one who called his name.

"Put him down!" Shepard said angrily.

Quaero scowled and threw the C-Sec officer onto the ground, the officer quickly stood, "I'm running you in for assault and battery and assaulting a C-Sec officer!"

Shepard stood in front of him, "You don't want to run in the companion of a former Spectre."

The officer scowled and spat on the floor in front of Quaero. He turned and walked away.

Lia stepped up to Quaero and said somewhat breathlessly, "Thank you. I wish I could give you something more than words…"

Quaero heard Tali growl a little; Quaero ignored her and said to Lia, "You don't need to thank me. Can you take care of yourself from here?"

"I guess. I mean most nights I eat nutrition paste at the Turian shelter but I'm surviving."

"Perhaps I could help you on your Pilgrimage," Quaero said as he reached into his pocket. Quaero withdrew a credit chit and handed it to Lia.

Lia looked at it and gasped, "11 million credits? I can't accept this!"

Kelly stepped forward, "I thought you said that you gave that to the Migrant Fleet."

Quaero looked at her and shrugged, "I lied."

Kelly huffed and crossed her arms. Shepard smiled at her.

Quaero turned back to Lia, "Please take it. I don't have any use for it."

"Th-thank you…" Lia said, she nervously hugged Quaero and quickly ran off holding the credit chit to her chest.

Quaero turned to Shepard and the others; he sighed then said, "It's been a long day. Do you mind if I accompany you to the Normandy?"

Shepard smiled, "Not at all Quaero."

Kelly cleared her throat loudly, "Um we were supposed to spend the whole day together!"

Quaero stretched, "And it's been a really fun day. But I'm beat from watching classical movies, beating up people, shopping, and attacking C-Sec officers."

Kelly huffed and Shepard stifled a laugh.

Shepard, still smiling, said, "Shall we go?"

"Absolutely," Quaero said tiredly.

Quaero, Shepard, Thane, and Tali all started to walk away, leaving Kelly to throw a tantrum next to a pile of shopping bags.

Shepard nudged Quaero on the arm and said, "You know I could have used that 11 million credits."

Quaero laughed loudly and put his arm around Shepard and gave her a one-armed hug.

Shepard looked up at Quaero, "Seriously, upgrades are expensive."


	16. Chapter 16: Repercussions

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Author's note: This chapter will be done entirely from the point of view of Shepard. What fun! Can I get an "Oh yes! That is genius! You are my god!"**

**Ch. 16: Repercussions**

Shepard finished putting in the coordinates for the derelict Reaper. They needed to go there to discover, not only the IFF, but the fate of the Cerberus research team. Shepard stepped away from the galaxy map and headed for the elevator.

"Any messages for me?" Shepard asked Kelly as she walked by.

"Nope," Kelly said a little annoyed.

Shepard glanced back at her and smiled. Kelly hadn't been in a good mood since she had gone on that date with Quaero. And Shepard wasn't surprised seeing how it ended.

Shepard stepped into the elevator, "EDI. Captain's Cabin please."

"At once Shepard," EDI responded as the elevator began to move up.

* * *

><p><strong>Later in the Captain's Cabin…<strong>

Shepard stepped out of the shower wrapped in a towel. She walked over to her armor locker and pulled a t-shirt, pants, boots, and underwear out of the locker and placed them on her bed.

Shepard removed her towel and threw it onto the floor she reached to pick up her underwear, but stopped when she heard the door to her cabin open.

"Hey Shepa…"

Shepard looked over at Quaero who stood in the doorway completely frozen in place. They stood there like that for a second, frozen in place and staring at each other.

Suddenly Quaero jumped and covered his mask with his hands, "Keelah! Shepard I-I'm sorry!"

Shepard quickly grabbed the towel on the floor and covered herself with it.

Quaero said frantically, "I-I'll just come back later!"

Quaero turned around and ran into the small hallway that he had just come from. He went too far however and slammed into the safety rail that was only about mid-thigh for him, causing him to flip over the railing and fall underneath the walkway. Shepard heard Quaero curse just as the door to her cabin closed.

* * *

><p><strong>A Few Hours Later…<strong>

Shepard was sitting at her desk gluing a space ship model of the Destiny's Ascension together when she heard her door open. Shepard turned her chair around, expecting to see Quaero, but was surprised when she saw Tali standing in the doorway.

"H-hey Shepard," Tali said nervously.

"What's up Tali?"

"I wanted to talk."

"Well, sure," Shepard said standing up, "I wasn't that busy anyways."

Shepard led Tali over to her couch, Shepard sat down on the couch next to her nightstand, and Tali sat on the part perpendicular to Shepard.

Shepard waited for Tali to start, when she didn't Shepard said warmly, "What did you want to talk about?"

Tali was silent for a moment, her eyes locked on her hands, finally she said, "You know… stuff…"

Shepard smiled, "Quaero?"

Tali looked up at Shepard, but then back down at her hands, "Y-yeah…"

Shepard waited. Tali was silent for a while before talking again, "I-I told… I told him…"

"That you loved him?"

"Yeah… How did… How did you…"

"It's pretty obvious Tali… Maybe not to him, but to everybody else."

"Oh… Yeah I love him."

"So you told him that you loved him huh? What did he say?"

"He said he had to do some calibrations…"

"Uh oh," Shepard knew that was Garrus's code word for 'I don't want to talk.'

"Yeah… I was so sure that he would say he loved me too…"

Tali began to sob sadly, Shepard stood and sat next to her and hugged her.

Shepard patted her head and said comfortingly, "It's okay, it's okay…"

"No. No it's not. He doesn't love me! He made that perfectly clear when he went out with Kelly," Tali said miserably.

"You saw how that date ended," Shepard said encouragingly, "He left with us and left Kelly all by herself."

"I love him so much Shepard," Tali said underneath sobs, "He is so extraordinary."

"Is that really an attractive quality?"

"Oh yes Shepard!" Tali said excitedly, "Being extraordinary is a very attractive quality! You for instance, you're very extraordinary. I swear if you were a man, I would be all over you in a second!"

A short awkward silence followed, Tali cleared her throat in a vain attempt to break the tension, and Shepard said finally, "Anyways… What makes Quaero extraordinary?"

"Are you kidding?" Tali said surprised, "He's got Krogan DNA Shepard! He's super strong, but also very kind and generous. He's a biotic, he's intelligent, and he's handsome!"

"Handsome?"

"You saw him Shepard; you don't think he's handsome?"

"Well… He does have a certain exotic look that some find attractive… and his body is so…"

Shepard stopped and looked at Tali, who was glaring at her, "Oh sorry."

Tali rolled her eyes, she completely ignored Shepard's statement and said, "And his name, his name is so beautiful too."

"Quaero' Vega? Sounds weird to me."

"In our native tongue it means: Search for the Fallen Star."

"Wow… that is beautiful… what does your name mean?"

"I have no idea," Tali said absently.

Silence followed for a short time before Tali stood, "Thanks for listening Shepard."

Shepard nodded and Tali walked out of the room. Shepard sighed loudly, she felt sorry for her friend. Shepard stood and stretched; she walked over to her desk and sat down to finish her model ship.

* * *

><p><strong>Two Hours Later…<strong>

Shepard set down her magnifying glass and tweezers. She gently picked up the completed Destiny's Ascension and placed it in the display case above her desk. Shepard exhaled satisfied and closed the display case.

Shepard stood and stretched. She walked over to her fish tank and pressed the button to feed them. After she finished watching her fish swim around in graceful circles in the tank, she walked out of her cabin and into the small hallway, she decided to go talk to the crew. Shepard tapped her foot on the walkway impatiently.

"Hey Shepard."

Shepard jumped at the sudden voice; Shepard looked around the tiny room and saw nobody, "Quaero? Is that you?"

"Yeah," Quaero responded miserably. Shepard looked around frantically trying to find the source of the voice.

"Where the hell are you?" Shepard asked looking around the room.

"Remember when I… walked in on you? Well when I left I flipped over the rail and rolled underneath the walkway."

"You're still under there that was hours ago?" Shepard asked as she got down onto her stomach and looked through the tiny holes in the walkway, she eventually found Quaero's face.

"Yeah," Quaero said miserably, "I got tangled up in a bunch of wires really tight and now I'm stuck. I'd muscle my way out but I don't know what these wires do."

"Why didn't you tell EDI to tell me that you were down there?"

"She asked if I needed assistance a few times," Quaero paused for a moment, "But I told her not to bother you."

"Why?" Shepard said baffled.

"Well after our little… encounter, I kind of was embarrassed, so I didn't really want to see you again so soon," Quaero said shamefully, "Also you're a very famous person, I'm sure you were doing something important."

"Please," Shepard said with a scoff, "I wasn't embarrassed, and you shouldn't be either."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well mostly because it wasn't your fault, I don't lock my door because nobody ever comes up to see me… at least until today."

"Well it was also the first time I've ever seen a… you know…"

"Wait… you've never seen… are you a virgin?"

"You sound just like Jacob. Yes, I am," Quaero said with a sigh.

Shepard smiled, and rested her head on her hands. Shepard suddenly realized that if the walkway wasn't between them, she would be lying on top of him, their faces almost touching. Shepard liked that idea.

"So a virgin huh?" Shepard asked with a giggle.

"Yes. But don't laugh, Grunt is a virgin too you know."

"Yeah but he's like eight months old. You're… what… 27? You have no excuse!"

"You mean aside from the cruddy immune system and the fact that it's an extremely long and difficult process for me to have sex with another Quarian?"

"Have you ever considered interspecies relationships?"

"Hm… No, not really. Though clearly I am quite popular with humans to say the least."

"Miranda, Kelly, and Tali openly expressed their feelings for you. I'm surprised you haven't gotten Jack to try to sleep with you."

"I would never try to get anybody to sleep with me!"

"No I just meant that I would have expected Jack to try and sleep with you."

"Nah, she hasn't said anything, I think she's too lazy to try and sleep with me. She knows the challenges of it."

Quaero sighed sadly, Shepard sighed too.

"What is it about me Shepard?"

"What?"

"What is it about me that gets seemingly every female on this ship, with the exception of Samara and you, to develop feelings for me?"

"Hm…" Shepard thought for a moment, "Well, Miranda probably likes you because you saved her life, got her to talk to her sister, and completely risked your own life doing both. Tali likes you because you were Mister Hot-Stuff Extraordinary Guy when you two were kids, not to mention you were like her only friend. Jack probably doesn't really like you, she just likes sex. And Kelly likes you because you're tall, muscular, and got a nice ass."

"Really? You think so?"

"Yeah it looks firm and isn't too small. It's a pretty nice ass."

"No I was talking about why people like me, not my ass."

"Oh," Shepard said blushing.

Silence followed for a few seconds, Shepard was staring into Quaero's glowing eyes through his dark glass mask, his infinite silver eyes…

"Shepard?"

"Huh," Shepard asked shaking her head to get herself out of her stupor.

"Could you get me out of here?"

"Oh! Right!"

Shepard stood and walked over to a rail. She swung a leg over, and was about to jump down but Quaero stopped her by calling out.

"On second thought, just leave me here for a while. This way people can't find me."

Shepard laughed and walked back to the elevator which had finally arrived, "Alright just tell EDI when you want me to come help you."

"Alright. See you, Shepard."

* * *

><p><strong>Many, Many Hours Later…<strong>

Shepard yawned loudly; she was very tired from the day's activity. Shepard stepped out of the elevator into the small hallway and walked over to her door. Suddenly she recalled something.

"Quaero, are you still there?"

A small silence followed, the she heard, "Yes…"

Shepard sighed and laughed, she walked over to the spot where Quaero was and laid down on her stomach again.

"It's been like 17 hours since i talked to you last!"

"Really wow… I'd like to get out now, I'm pretty hungry."

"Didn't you want to get out sooner?"

"Well sure! Like hours ago, but you know I—"

"Didn't want to bother me," Shepard said as she hopped over the walkway's railing, she slid down the curve that led underneath the walkway. She crawled awkwardly over the mounds of wires and tubes that were under the walkway toward Quaero, who was tangled up with thick bundles of wires.

Shepard started to tug at the wires that were wrapped around Quaero, but he was tangled up in them too tightly. Shepard huffed in frustration.

"Looks like I'll have to cut you out of there," Shepard said as she turned around.

"Take your time," Quaero said as he looked up at the ceiling.

* * *

><p><strong>Later…<strong>

Shepard crawled back toward Quaero with a pair of wire cutters in her hand. She reached Quaero and began snipping away at some of the cords that were wrapped tightly around him.

"Careful not to knick my suit," Quaero said as he watched her work.

"Don't worry I won't," Shepard said absently as she cut the wires wrapped around him.

Shepard cut the last bundle of wires that were wrapped around Quaero's stomach, his rock hard stomach. Shepard placed a hand on it… to steady herself with. Quaero moved suddenly, which shifted all of wires and tubes around him, including the ones Shepard was situated on.

Shepard tumbled over onto Quaero, in a similar position to the one she was in on the walkway. Their faces were inches away, separated only by Quaero's mask. Shepard felt Quaero's strong hands on her back.

"Are you alright Shepard?" Quaero said after a little.

"Uh, yeah. I'm just fine."

A long silence followed, "So do you want to get off of me?"

"Oh sorry," Shepard said blushing slightly as she rolled off of him onto to the bed of wires and tubes.

Side by side, they crawled out from under the walkway. Quaero stood with Shepard after they were out from under the walkway. Shepard moved to pull herself over the railing that came up to about her neck, but she felt powerful hands on her waist. She looked around as she was lifted as if she weighed nothing over the railing and onto the walkway.

She turned around and stared at Quaero as he deftly hopped over the railing and onto the walkway.

Quaero stretched and groaned as his back popped a few times, he sighed and said, "Well that was fun. Thanks for getting me out of there Shepard; I'm going to go get some food."

Shepard thought quickly, "Actually I haven't eaten yet either. Mind if I join you?"

Quaero shrugged, "Not at all. It's nice to have company."

Quaero offered his arm to Shepard. Shepard looked at it for a second shocked, but she smiled and took it. Together they walked into the elevator and traveled down to the Crew Deck.

**Author's Note: Sorry this one is a little short. I usually follow specific guidelines that I set myself, including keeping chapters around 3000 words. This one is around 2400 words, so don't hate on me too much. I'll simplify that for you that's a 600 word difference, basically me saying "Seven" 120 times. That is what I call fluff! Hope you like this chapter. More Sensus in the next one, with more humor… stupid, dry humor. HOORAY!**


	17. Chapter 17: A Husk of my Former Self

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Ch. 17: A Husk of my Former Self**

Garrus stretched in the Main Battery. Believe it or not he was actually doing calibrations. Garrus looked over at his cooler of Topari and considered finishing watching the Halo movie that had just come out, but he decided to get something to eat then get some rest.

Garrus stepped out of Main Battery and paused for a moment at what he saw. Quaero, Shepard, Thane, and Grunt all sat around the table in the mess, talking and laughing.

Garrus walked up and pulled a bag of Turian chips from a cabinet and walked over to the table. Garrus pulled up a seat in between Grunt and Quaero, with Thane and Shepard sitting across from them.

"Hi Garrus," Shepard said with a smile, "What are you doing up so late?"

"I just wanted to finish some calibrations," Garrus said, he shook his head at Shepard's expression of doubt.

"So Sheppy, what's new with you?" Garrus asked.

The table fell silent and all eyes turned to Garrus, who looked around cluelessly, "What?"

"Sheppy?" Shepard said confused.

"Yeah, I thought it would be a good nickname for you," Garrus said through a mouthful of chips.

"People already call me Shepard! My first name can easily be turned into a nickname!" Shepard yelled angrily.

"Really?" Thane said surprised.

"What do you mean really?"

"I actually don't know your first name I just thought it was just Shepard," Thane said confused.

Murmurs of agreement came from Quaero and Grunt.

Shepard looked at them angrily, "You guys don't know my first name? It's—"

"Pardon my interruption Shepard," EDI said, "But we've arrived at the derelict Reaper."

"Oh thank you EDI," Shepard said as she stood, "Quaero I want you to come with me on this one, we going to board it in a couple of hours, get some rest. I'll see you later."

Quaero nodded and stood as Shepard left. He nodded to the others as he walked away toward the elevator.

* * *

><p><strong>Four Hours Later…<strong>

Quaero sat up from his cot and sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. He stood and walked over to his locker to put on his armor.

After he had finished putting on his armor, Quaero withdrew his Revenant and his Scimitar shotgun from the locker and placed them onto his back. Quaero walked to his desk and grabbed the scrap of envirosuit; he stuffed it into his pocket.

Quaero turned around but stopped, he looked around at his desk again, and his eyes fell onto the desk drawer that contained Sensus. Quaero sighed and opened the drawer. He withdrew the black cube and opened it so the chip popped out. Quaero withdrew the chip and placed it on the desk.

Sensus's eye appeared above the chip, _"Oh it's you…"_

"Who else would it be?"

"_I don't know. Maybe the Turian?"_

Quaero shook his head and groaned in frustration, "Listen Sensus. I'm going on an important mission. I'm going to let you have a little time out. This is very important so if you don't behave I'll be forced to destroy you. Do you understand?"

"_I do! Please take me with you!"_

Quaero nodded and picked up the chip, he reached behind his head and felt out the thin slot on it. Quaero pressed the chip into it.

Suddenly Quaero's mask lit up with a pale blue light, Sensus's eye appeared on it. Quaero reached down and grabbed his over-mask, he snapped it into place. His normally dark eye slits on his mask glowed pale blue.

* * *

><p><strong>Later on the CIC…<strong>

Quaero walked up to the cockpit where he saw Shepard staring out of the window and Samara leaning against the wall. Samara smiled at Quaero as he passed, he nodded to her and walked beside Shepard so he could get a better view of the Reaper.

Quaero's eyebrows rose at the engineering marvel that was the infamous Reaper. Even dead, it was still semi functional; its powerful mass effect field was still active, keeping the Reaper corpse trapped in a safe haven within the constant storm of a brown dwarf. That's quite a coffin.

"Bring us in close Joker," Shepard said patting Joker on the shoulder.

* * *

><p><strong>On the Reaper…<strong>

Quaero stomped a husk's head as it tried to crawl up the railing. Its head smashed like a cabbage under the immense force. Skinny grey arms that were filled with tubes wrapped around Quaero's midsection. An EMP burst erupted from behind Quaero, eliminating Quaero's shields.

Another husk clambered over the edge of the railing before Quaero could stomp it dead. Its lifeless face screamed at Quaero. It swung its arms wildly, beating Quaero's head side to side. Quaero lifted both his legs up and kicked the husk in the chest. The husk in front of him toppled over the edge and fell out of sight, while the husk behind him buckled under Quaero's weight. Quaero fell flat on top of him, fluid gushed out from underneath him. Quaero rolled back to his feet and pulled his shotgun from his back.

Quaero looked around and assessed the danger. He saw Shepard struggling to get her shotgun back from a husk. Quaero looked around again and saw Samara getting strangled by a scion.

Quaero ran at the scion and blasted it in its leg. The scion dropped Samara and swung around at Quaero. Quaero ducked under its gun arm and fired his shotgun into one of its faces. This seemed to have no effect on the scion other than blowing out one of its faces.

Quaero gritted his teeth and shoved the barrel of his shotgun into the hole that used to be his face. Quaero fired his shotgun over and over again as much as it would allow. The scion stayed standing for a short time before falling backwards.

Quaero helped Samara to her feet and looked over at Shepard who was standing on top of a husk shooting its face with her pistol. Shepard holstered her pistol and looked at Quaero and Samara.

Quaero caught a glimpse of something behind Shepard. Quaero didn't realize what it was until it had tackled Shepard to the floor, an abomination. Shepard struggled to get free but couldn't under the immense strength of the abomination's grip. Quaero couldn't shoot at it or he would run the risk of harming Shepard. He couldn't use his biotics either because the abomination had a far too powerful hold on Shepard. Quaero had to think fast.

Quaero ran as fast as he could toward Shepard and the abomination. But he realized the distance was too great. He knew he wouldn't make it in time because the abomination had already caught on fire, a telltale sign that it was about to explode. Suddenly the abomination flew off Shepard and exploded a few feet away. The sound of a gunshot quickly followed.

Quaero looked up at a walkway, where a geth stood. The geth ejected a thermal clip from its sniper rifle and placed it on its back. Shepard stood and joined Quaero and Samara in observing the mysterious geth. Then it did something that shocked them all, it spoke.

"Shepard Commander," it simply stated before walking away. Shepard, Quaero, and Samara all looked at each other in confusion.

A deep mechanical voice that emanated from Quaero broke the tension, _"What an interesting person."_

Shepard sighed, "Quaero did you really have to take him with you?"

Quaero shrugged, "I figured he might be useful, which he hasn't."

"_Ouch."_

Shepard rolled her eyes, "Let's just move on."

* * *

><p><strong>Later…<strong>

Shepard, Quaero and Samara all stood outside of a massive door, Shepard was holding the Reaper IFF that they had just found in her hands.

"Alright Sensus," Quaero said, "It's time to do your job."

"_What job?"_

"This door is locked," Quaero said with slight annoyance in his voice, "Open it."

Nothing happened.

"Sensus!" Quaero yelled, "What are you waiting for? Open the door!"

Nothing happened.

"Sensus? What the hell?" Quaero exclaimed angrily.

"_Say 'please!'"_

"Keelah!" Quaero roared angrily, "Please!"

Nothing happened.

"_Please what?"_

"Dammit Sensus!" Quaero screamed furiously, "Open the damned door! Please!"

"_I can't."_

Quaero was silent for a moment, "What? What do you mean you can't?"

"_The door was locked manually from the other side; it must be unlocked manually from the other side."_

The group visibly lost all hope. Suddenly the door opened, Quaero looked inside and saw the geth from before step away from a terminal across the room and get struck across the face by a husk and lose consciousness. Even though that doesn't make any sense.

At the far end of the room was a massive element zero core that was keeping the derelict Reaper from plummeting into the brown dwarf. Shepard wanted to destroy it.

Shepard, Quaero and Samara ran up to the unconscious geth and formed a semicircle around it. Quaero drew his Revenant and Samara drew her Vindicator assault rifle, they shot at the hordes of husks and abominations climbing onto the walkways around them.

Behind him, Quaero heard Shepard draw her M-920 Cain. The humming of the weapon as it charged grew louder and higher pitched until, it fired the slow moving projectile with a _thunk._

The instant he heard it fire, Quaero grabbed Shepard and Samara and pulled them down quickly as the a massive explosion erupted from the Reaper core. The concussion from the blast knocked the wind out of Quaero's lungs and all of the advancing husks off of their feet. The massive heat wave followed the concussion incinerated the husks strewn about on the ground. Quaero, Samara, and Shepard were all protected by the low wall that stood between them and the core.

Instantly after the core exploded, the Reaper lurched and began to shake violently as its mass effect field powered down and it began to plummet into the brown dwarf. Within seconds the team was back on their feet, Quaero and Samara began to run to the door but stopped when they realized Shepard wasn't running too.

Shepard was trying to lift the geth off of the ground, its arm slung over her shoulders.

Quaero yelled at her, partly because of the noise and partly because he was angry, "You can't take that thing with you Shepard! It's too much of a risk! And it will only slow us down! We need to leave now!"

"It saved my life!" Shepard yelled back, "I want to know why!"

"You can't take it with you just to satisfy your damned curiosities Shepard! It's far too dangerous!"

"Tali once told me that an intact geth had never been captured before!" Shepard argued, "Think about what we can learn from it!"

Quaero looked from the door, to Shepard, then back again. He stomped on the ground in frustration and walked up to Shepard and the geth. Quaero grabbed the geth and swung it over his shoulders effortlessly. He ran back to the door, this time with Shepard.

* * *

><p><strong>Later…<strong>

Quaero ran to the edge of the walkway that was on the outside of the Reaper. The Normandy waited a short distance away from the walkway; the negative gravity from the falling Reaper should make the jump easy however. Quaero lifted the geth off of his shoulders and held him like a battering ram, with one hand on its neck and his other hand in the gaping hole in its chest.

Quaero swung the geth back and forth a few times before throwing him toward the open airlock door of the Normandy, where a few crew members waited to assist Shepard and the team. The geth floated like it was weightless toward the Normandy and the crew members caught it and set it down to the side.

Quaero then took a few steps back before leaping with all his strength toward the open door. He easily reached the door and caught himself on the doorway. He stepped inside and caught Samara as she drifted into through the doorway. Shepard was last and was killing a few husks that were walking toward her.

Shepard turned and jumped toward the Normandy without a running start. She landed at the edge of the doorway, but she was still holding her assault rifle in both hands and had nothing to pull herself in with. She swung her arms in circles trying to find something to catch as she fell backwards. Quaero reached out and caught her around the waist. He pulled her inside and away from the door. Shepard had dropped her Revenant in her attempt to find a hand hold and now had both hands pressed against Quaero's chest.

Quaero promptly released her and closed the door to the airlock.

Shepard, blushing a little, raised a hand to her ear and said, "Joker we're all in. Get us out of here!"

* * *

><p><strong>In Quaero's Quarters<strong>

Quaero sat in his chair and sighed loudly. He reached behind his head and removed Sensus. He placed Sensus on the desk and sat back in his chair.

"_Well that was fun!"_ Sensus said as its eye appeared.

"No it wasn't I almost died. And you managed to cross the border of annoying, to completely useless."

"_Aw, now don't say that. I'm not completely useless. Just mostly useless."_

"If you couldn't do what you were meant to do then what is the point of you?"

"_I don't know. Philosophizing?"_

"Philosophizing? Are you saying that you're a philosopher?"

"_No… but I don't have much else to do other than think."_

"Oh, then enlighten me oh wise one."

"_Ok, how about this: 50,000 years ago the Protheans, along with who knows what, were wiped out by the Reapers. Well 50,000 years is a very short span of time in terms of life. So that means that the Asari must've just missed the mark to be wiped out by the Reapers. Because, apparently, Reapers only wipe out space faring species. And since Asari live for around one-thousand years, that means there have only been fifty generations of Asari since then."_

"So?"

"_Well then that means that…"_

[This section has been edited out by BioWare representatives against the writer's will.]

"…_fish. Do you understand Quaero?"_

"Yeah… Wow… Hm I've never thought of it that way," Quaero said in awe of Sensus's genius observation.

Suddenly Quaero heard the door to his room open and he glanced over his shoulder. He saw Tali standing in the doorway. He sighed and stood.

"Oh hi Tali," Quaero said uncomfortably, "Sorry but I can't talk, I was just on my way out. I have some… calibrations to do."

Tali put her hands on her hips, "I figured you'd say that. But that's not why I'm here. Quaero, Shepard is going to reactivate the geth! We have to stop her!"

Quaero gasped and followed Tali out of his room.

* * *

><p><strong>On the Crew Deck, in the Med-Bay<strong>

Quaero and Tali stormed into the Med-Bay just Shepard was leaving the AI Core. Quaero caught a glimpse of the geth standing in the AI Core just before the door closed behind Shepard.

"Shepard!" Tali yelled at Shepard.

"Quaero? Tali? What's wrong?" Shepard asked innocently.

"You know damn well what's wrong Shepard!" Tali yelled at Shepard as she pointed a threating finger into her face.

"We know what you're doing Shepard," Quaero said, "When you said we could learn from the geth I thought you meant like remove its memory core while its intact. I didn't think you would reactivate it."

Shepard held up her hands defensively, "Don't worry its friendly."

"Friendly?" Tali said shocked, "Shepard those things almost wiped out our species! It's inside the AI core! It could easily take control of the ship! It's too dangerous for us to let it live!"

"Tali calm down," Shepard said coolly, "I've talked to it. It isn't like the others."

"What the hell does that mean Shepard?" Quaero said angrily, "I know a thing or two about geth and I know for a fact that they are all the same."

"Not anymore," Shepard said, "The geth have split into two factions, the ones that worship the Reapers, they're ones I've been fighting, and the ones that don't worship the Reapers. Legion is part of the ones that don't worship the Reapers."

"Legion?" Tali said the word like it was poison on her tongue, "Is that your name for it Shepard?"

"That is what I chose to call it," Shepard said a little embarrassed, "Legion wants to help us fight the Reapers, and you have to admit Tali, the geth will make a very powerful ally."

"I trust you Shepard," Quaero said reluctantly, "I just hope you know the repercussions of allying with that thing, you're going to have a lot more trouble convincing others."

Shepard nodded in agreement; she knew that eventually she would have to get the council to help her fight the Reapers, and convincing them that the geth are allies would be quite a challenge.

"I trust you too Shepard," Tali said, "But I don't trust that thing. And you can't force me to trust it either."

"I know Tali," Shepard said woefully, "All I ask is that you work with it."

"If anybody else asked me that I would say that was too much," Tali said with a warm tone, "But I'll do as you ask Shepard."

"Thank you Tali."

Tali turned and walked out of the Med-Bay, leaving Quaero and Shepard alone.

"Why did you freak out Quaero?" Shepard asked him once Tali was gone.

"What do you mean?"

"You made an AI, and you told me yourself that you think it was a good idea to ally the geth."

"When I made Sensus I took every precaution to limit his freedom and ability. A geth has a body, the ability to kill and use hacking abilities. Sensus couldn't do that even if it tried. And I did say that I think that the only way to get our homeworld back was to work with the geth, but I didn't think that I might have a hand in it."

"Well with luck," Shepard paused for a moment, "And trust, you might get to see your people back on your homeworld within your lifetime."

"That…" Quaero choked up, suddenly emotional, "That would be a dream come true."

Quaero lowered his head and walked toward the exit, he stopped at the door and looked back at Shepard, whose eyes shot up from Quaero's ass and to his face.

"Thank you Shepard," Quaero said sincerely, "For the opportunity to put my people back on our homeworld."

Shepard smiled, "I do my best."

Quaero turned away and left the Med-Bay.

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading! People of Earth… Terrible, terrible news, I have to slow down my writing. It's okay don't cry. I'm not going to stop, just slow down. It's nearing the end of summer down here and I'm afraid that school is starting soon and I'm out of Big League Chew. That means that I've lost both the time and motivation to write. Writing has been a wonderful way for me to kill time on boring days, but I'm afraid that I'll be a lot busier with school and life. Let's face it I've been really generous with the speed at which I have been updating my chapters, NO MORE! One chapter a week and that's final! Well not necessarily.**

**Thanks to all my avid readers, and to all the people who stopped reading my story a few lines in: Shame on you! Quaero' Vega judges you! You can't get mad at me because you'll never read this! Muahhahahaha! **

**Anyways. Please favorite and review, ask questions if you need to, and don't ever stop reading and writing.**

**I have something important to say now. More like a request. To the people reading this, I would like to ask your opinion:**

**The suicide mission is nearing, and romance is blossoming. Who Quaero has a romance with is not important right now, what is important is this question. Should I write, in detail, the romance scene? That means sex, descriptive, descriptive sex. I've been on the fence about this, and I'm not sure what I should do. I like to leave that kind of thing to the imagination… and the imaginations of other authors. But there is a reason that I made this an M story, I did it because I wasn't sure if I was going to write the sex or not.**

**So please review and leave me your suggestion. Or PM me and tell me what you think I should do.**

**Love,**

**Mockingbird79**


	18. Chapter 18: Iron Bouquet

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Author's Note: This one will be done out of Tali's point of view. As always, enjoy reading. Please favorite and review.**

**Ch. 18: The Iron Bouquet**

Tali stood at her terminal in Engineering, she wasn't really doing anything important, just checking then rechecking the engine temperature over and over again. She sighed loudly and stretched. She checked the time on her omni-tool and saw that it was getting rather late.

"Donnelly, Daniels," Tali called over to the pair on the other side of the room, they looked up from their terminals, looking just as bored as Tali was, "I'm going to turn in. See you two tomorrow."

Ken grunted in response and Gabby waved weakly. Tali shook her head and headed down stairs.

Tali walked up to the door to her room and paused for a moment to stare at Quaero's door. She sighed deeply and glanced over her shoulder at Jack's hidey hole. Jack was snoring loudly and seemed fast asleep. Tali took a step toward Quaero's door but paused.

Tali hadn't spoken to Quaero in almost two weeks. The last time they had spoken was when they had gone up to the Crew Deck to talk to Shepard about Legion. Tali felt terrible, the few times she had come down to talk to him, he had been working busily at his desk and looked far too engrossed in his work to be bothered. Tali felt like she was losing her oldest friend and it was all because she had to be selfish and tell him that she loved him.

Tali sighed and stepped up to Quaero's door. She raised a hand to knock on it but stopped herself. Tali let her hand fall to her side. She lowered her head miserably and walked into her room. Tali sat on down on her cot and rubbed her hands together. She slowly laid herself down on her cot and stared up at the ceiling. Tali closed her eyes and listened to the silence of the Normandy.

Tali frowned when she realized that the room wasn't totally silent, a quiet muffled whirring noise, similar to the sound a table saw made hummed in her room. Tali opened her eyes and looked around her room. She was alone; she realized that the noise was coming from another room. Since Tali knew that only Quaero's room was next to hers, she realized that the noise was coming from his room.

Tali pressed the side of her head against the wall, and listened to the whirring noise. She also heard Quaero's voice behind the noise he was humming to a tune that Tali didn't recognize. Then again it wouldn't have mattered what tune he hummed to, Tali wouldn't have recognized it.

Tali laid herself back down on the cot, but positioned herself so that she could listen to Quaero work. Tali closed her eyes and savored the sound. She soon fell asleep.

* * *

><p><em><strong>In the Tall Tower of Normandy Keep<strong>_

_Tali sat next to the window of the Tall Tower, staring out at the sun as it was setting. She heard the door behind her open and she looked around to see the Evil Wizard Cacete standing in the doorway stroking his beard._

"_Muahaha!" Cacete laughed as he stroked his beard, "Princess Tali' Zorah! You will never escape! Once the sun sets in an hour, you will be my bride!"_

_Tali stood quickly and said defiantly, "I will never wed you! I know somebody will come to my rescue!"_

"_Ha! Hahahahhaha!" Cacete laughed again, "Foolish girl. Soon we will be married and that will make me the King of these lands. Slut-Mouse! Fire-Crotch!"_

_Two women stepped into the room, one was pale and had bright red hair she was wearing a burlap sack with the words "Fire-Crotch" written on it, she waddled into the room in a bow legged position, almost like she was a monkey. The other woman was a brunette and was wearing lingerie and stockings, the bodice she was wearing had the words, "Slut-Mouse" embroidered on the left cup._

"_Plea!" Fire-Crotch said in a thick voice, "Caw me Kelly!"_

"_No. Make sure she doesn't try and escape," Cacete said with a smile, "Slut-Mouse you're in charge."_

"_Yes sir!" Slut-Mouse responded with an Australian accent._

_Cacete turned and walked out of the room and slapped Slut-Mouse on the ass as he left._

_Tali sighed and sat down again and stared out of the window. The sun was just beginning to set on the horizon. Tali was beginning to lose all hope. Suddenly she saw something bright and shining appear on top of a hill. Tali squinted to get a better look._

_Tali saw a large knight in bright shining armor sitting atop a blue horse. The horse reared up and stood on its back legs. The knight lifted his lance high into the air heroically as his horse stood on its back legs. The second the horse dropped back down to all fours, it charged toward the castle. The knight held his lance at the ready, and his shield close to his body._

_Tali, unable to hide her shock, gasped and jumped out of her seat. Slut-Mouse took notice and leapt to her feet. She sneered at Tali and held out her hand to Fire-Crotch, who placed an SNM whip in her hand._

_Tali gasped in fear and lifted up the edges of her dress so that she could make a dash for the other side of the room. Slut-Mouse quickly pursued her, but one of her stiletto high heel boots broke and she fell to the ground. Tali reached her nightstand and opened the drawer._

_She rummaged through its contents until she found what she was looking for._

_Behind her Tali heard Fire-Crotch stomp towards her and say in a redneck drawl, "You's gonna pay fo tha!" _

_Tali spun around and raised her stun gun. The stun gun had small white letters written on the side they read: Chiktikka vas Paus._

"_Euh?" Fire-Crotch said confused, she stared at Tali and her stun gun for a moment before smiling smugly, "You's too slo to get close enough to use tha!"_

_Tali fired her stun gun into Fire-Crotch's face. Fire-Crotch convulsed violently before falling to the floor. _

_Tali popped the cartridge out and loaded in another one, she said as she pointed it at Slut-Mouse who had just stood, "Nothing is faster than Chiktikka vas Paus!"_

_Tali fired her stun gun into Slut-Mouse's chest, one chord into each breast. Slut-Mouse convulsed and fell to the floor. Her previously ample boobs deflated as gas seeped out of them._

_Tali loaded in another cartridge and ran out of the room._

* * *

><p><em><strong>On the Roof of the Keep<strong>_

_Tali looked around cautiously as she stepped out of the Tall Tower and onto the wide roof of the Keep. Tali saw many bodies strewn about the roof, all of them were Cacete's guards. She saw one of them was impaled with the knight's lance. Tali looked around again and saw Cacete run out of a guard tower on the other side of the roof holding his magical staff._

_Tali was afraid that he would see her, but he simply turned around just and blew up the tower with a fire spell. Tali saw the knight dive out just in time and draw his sword._

_Cacete shot another spell at the knight, but the knight blocked it with his shield. The knight charged at Cacete and hit him with his shield. Cacete flew a few feet to the knight's left. Cacete quickly rolled out of the way as the knight tried to stab him. Cacete held his staff like a bat and swung it into the knight's stomach. The knight dropped his sword and grasped at his belly Cacete kicked the knight over onto his back._

_Tali gasped in fear as Cacete shoved his staff towards the knight's head, but the knight managed to catch it and kept it from touching his head._

_Cacete leaned on the staff with all his weight, and said breathlessly, "Now I have you! It is time for you to die!"_

_Flames erupted from the end of the staff onto the knight's head. Tali gasped and her heart skipped a beat. Suddenly the knight threw the end of the staff to the side of his head. He then rolled over the end of it, causing the staff to topple over to the side, with Cacete still holding it. Cacete rolled away from his staff and the knight quickly stood. Cacete panted heavily and tried to stand. The knight picked up his sword and put it to Cacete's neck. _

_The knight gripped his sword in both hands and thrusted it into Cacete's throat all the way to the hilt. Cacete gurgled his last breath clutching at the knight's hands. The knight released his sword as Cacete fell over to the side, dead._

_The knight took a step back and removed his charred helmet. Underneath it was another helmet, but more like the one Tali wore. He looked over at Tali almost like he knew she was there the whole time. Tali could see his silver eyes beneath his dark mask narrow, like he was smiling. Tali smiled back and took a few tentative steps forward._

_The knight took a few steps toward Tali, but stopped suddenly and raised a hand to her. Suddenly Tali felt an arm wrap around her throat and a sharp point press against her back._

_Tali heard the Australian accent of Slut-Mouse from behind her, "Knight! You're going to pay for killing Cacete! We are going to kill her right in front of you!"_

_Tali felt Slut-Mouse try to jam the knife into Tali, but she couldn't. Tali laughed loudly, "Ha! Don't you know anything about Quarians? Knives can't pierce our suits!"_

_Tali elbowed Slut-Mouse in the stomach and ran to the knight once she felt Slut-Mouse's arm remove itself from Tali's neck. Once Tali reached the knight she placed her hands on his armored chest and welcomed his warm and safe embrace. Tali looked up at him and saw he was watching Slut-Mouse and Fire-Crotch. Tali looked back to them and glared at them._

"_Fine!" Slut-Mouse screamed at them, "If knives can't piece your suit what about dragon's teeth?"_

_Slut-Mouse roared as she transformed into a massive orange dragon. She stretched her neck straight up and blew flames into the sky. She dropped down to all fours and roared at the pair._

"_Or troll feets!" Fire-Crotch bellowed._

_Fire-Crotch roared as she grew in size and girth until she was a massive green troll. She still had her red mop of hair on her head and still stood in her bow legged stance. Fire-Crotch reached between her legs and withdrew a massive tree trunk club. Tali was so happy that the burlap sack she wore expanded with her and she couldn't see her pull out the club. _

_The knight pushed Tali behind him and raised his shield. The dragon Slut-Mouse blew flames at them but the knight protected them with his shield. The second the flames ceased, the knight dropped his guard and threw his shield at Slut-Mouse. The pointed bottom of the shield flew straight into Slut-Mouse's saggy chest. Slut-Mouse clutched at the shield but it was in too deep for her to withdraw. She roared in pain and slumped onto the ground, dead._

_Fire-Crotch stared at the corpse of the dragon and roared into the sky in anger. She raised her club high above her head and swung it down at the pair with all her might. The knight saw this coming and grabbed Tali and dove out of the way with her. He rolled Tali out of harm's way and jumped to his feet._

_Tali lifted her torso off of the ground and stared in awe at the knight as he dodged blow after wild blow from Fire-Crotch. Tali realized that he was defenseless and looked around for something to give him. Tali realized she was right next to Cacete's corpse, which still had the knight's sword protruding from his neck. _

_Tali pulled the blade out but beheaded Cacete in the process. Tali lifted the shining sword to throw it to the knight. She stared at the sword for a moment and saw a rose engraved into the blade._

"_Knight!" Tali yelled at him, he looked back at her and she threw his sword to him. Tali was afraid that the sword was spinning too much in the air and he wouldn't be able to catch it without risking losing a hand. But, much to Tali's amazement, the knight caught it without any effort. The knight dodged another swing from Fire-Crotch and held the sword like a javelin. He threw the blade with all his might at Fire-Crotch's face._

_Tali caught a glimpse of the shining sword as it flew through the air toward Fire-Crotch's face. Fire-Crotch's head snapped back as the sword connected with her misshapen skull. Fire-Crotch stumbled back and fell off the roof of the Keep._

_The knight turned and walked toward Tali, who still sat on the ground. He helped her to her feet and held her close. Tali stared straight into his eyes, and he stared straight into hers._

_He said gently in a voice that sounded like an orchestra, "My name is Sir Quaero' Vega. I've travelled over many lands on my nag, Belladonna, to rescue you. I've looked at you from afar, with love in my heart, but I never believed that you could ever love me. When you were kidnapped by the Evil Wizard Cacete, your father, King Rael' Zorah, sent word all across the land that whoever saved you would be rewarded with wealth more precious than the rest of the world could offer."_

_The knight took a step back and held on of her hands in both of his, he kneeled and stared straight up into her eyes, "I said to him, 'there is no treasure in this universe, more precious than your daughter's beauty and her hand in marriage.' His response was a smile and the words 'If you can save my daughter before the sun sets on the seventh day, then you will have my blessing.'"_

_Tali looked up from Sir Quaero to the sun, whose light was just visible above the horizon; she brought a hand to her mask, unable to keep her emotions hidden. _

_She looked back down to the knight, he continued in a warm voice, "I have done as requested of me. Now there is just one thing left to do, Princess Tali' Zorah. Will you marry me?"_

"_Yes!" Tali said without the slightest hesitation. Sir Quaero stood and held her close again. He placed a hand on her lower back and dipped her down in a romantic position. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stared up at him lovingly. He raised a hand to the side of her head and pressed the mask release on the side of her helmet. Tali heard her mask depressurize and release, her new love slowly pulled the mask off of her face._

"_Tali…" Sir Quaero said lovingly, "Tali…"_

* * *

><p>"Tali! Tali!"<p>

Tali jolted up from her cot and looked around the room. Gabby stood in the doorway. Tali sighed and rested her head in her hand.

"Tali! You're finally awake!" Gabby said, "I was wondering if you might want to go get some breakfast with me and Ken?"

Tali nodded and looked up at Gabby, "Yeah sure. That sounds alright."

"Were you having a good dream?" Gabby said as Tali stood and stretched.

Tali looked at her and nodded, "Yeah a great dream. Just a dream…"

* * *

><p><strong>A Few Hours Later…<strong>

Tali walked up to the cabinet in Engineering where they kept the spare parts for repairs. Tali always hated having to rummage through it to find what she needed. It was always so cluttered and disorganized. Tali sighed as she punched in the code to unlock the cabinet and gasped audibly.

The usually packed shelves of the cabinet were clear of clutter. Upon each of the six shelves were two containers that were labeled with what the contained. From spare parts to data boards to regular nuts and bolts, each container was filled to the brim with what was previously just piled onto the shelves.

Tali smiled, she leaned back slightly and called to Ken and Gabby, "Hey Ken! Looks like somebody messed up your masterpiece over here!"

Ken looked up and walked to the cabinet, his jaw dropped when he saw the interior, "Oi! What have they done! Now I won't be able to find anything!"

"The containers are clearly labeled," Tali said gesturing to the cabinet, "I'm just glad somebody cleaned it up, it isn't just for you, you know."

Ken huffed and walked back to his terminal, Gabby came over and looked inside of the cabinet, "Wow, I wonder if the person who did this organized the other cabinets too."

Tali walked over to the tool cabinet where they kept all of their tools, Ken was just as disorganized with this one as he was with the other cabinets. Tali opened it and almost wasn't surprised to see that it was just as neatly organized as the other one.

Somebody had removed the shelves in this cabinet and hung the tools on the wall inside of the cabinet. Wrenches organized according to size, plasma cutters lined up neatly with spare batteries next to them, even the large rivet gun was hung neatly at the bottom with spare rivet clips underneath. There was also a brand new light that was attached to the top and bottom of the cabinet, illuminating the tools so that you could clearly see them.

Tali thought this was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen, she said over her shoulder to Gabby, "This is amazing! Who do you think did this?"

Gabby shrugged and said, "Maybe Quaero."

"Quaero?"

"Yeah, he came through here the other night after you and Ken had gone to bed. He asked about spare metal and tools and stuff. I told him the stuff he needed was in these cabinets. Stuff kept falling out when he opened them and I heard him mumble something about it being disgraceful."

"What did he take with him?"

"Let's see," Gabby thought for a moment, her eyes drifted upwards, "Uh a rivet gun, a plasma cutter, welding tool, pliers, metal cutter, electrical wiring, a laser focus lens, batteries, and a shit load of scrap metal."

Tali thought for a moment before waving Gabby away with a hand. Gabby nodded and walked back to her work station. Tali closed the cabinets and headed down stairs to Quaero's Quarters.

Tali hear the same whirring noise from the previous night coming from his room. Tali checked to see if Jack wasn't around, which she wasn't, and knocked tentatively on the door.

The whirring stopped, and there was silence for a moment, Tali heard Quaero move around a little in the room, then she heard him say, "Come in."

Tali opened the door and saw Quaero, fully armored, hunched over his desk. His body obscured what he was working on but Tali could see flashes of light from his welding tool coming from in front of him. A box filled with sheets of metal sat next to his desk.

"Quaero?" Tali said nervously.

Quaero glanced over his shoulder and saw that it was Tali. He turned his chair around and leaned back in his chair.

"Hi Tali," Quaero said with a hint of exhausted frustration in his voice, "What can I do for you?"

"I was just curious about what you're working on."

"Oh," Quaero said with a little relief in his voice. He turned back around and waved a hand, signaling for her to approach.

Tali stepped forward nervously; she took a position next to his desk and leaned in closer when she saw what he was working on.

In front of Quaero was a small drone, about the size of a human basketball, with a large dark laser focus lens on the front. Quaero welded a seam in the sheets of scrap metal together and lifted the drone off of his desk to show to Tali.

"Saw hello to Sensus," Quaero said holding the drone up to Tali so that she could examine it.

"Sensus?" Tali responded as she took the drone from Quaero and turned it around in her hands.

"Yeah," Quaero said picking up the small black cube that sat at the corner of the desk, "I built that so he can roam around and stuff. Don't worry though there aren't any weapons or things on it. All he can really do is wander around. It kept nagging me that it didn't have any freedom, this way I figure it'll stop bugging me."

"That's kind of you."

Quaero shrugged and took the drone back from Tali. He placed it back on the desk and reached over to the other side of his desk where a very thick curved piece of metal sat.

"I've also been working on this," Quaero said as he handed the piece of metal to Tali. Tali realized that this was a new over-mask for Quaero to wear. This one was far more detailed than his old one however. The new mask had facial features sculpted on it, including a nose, brow, larger rounder eye holes, cheek bones and even an upper lip.

Tali recognized that this was Quaero's own face. He had modeled it to look like his face. Tali ran her fingers over the tall nose and sharp cheekbones of the mask, stopping the tips of her fingers on its lip. Tali reluctantly handed it back to Quaero.

"That's very beautiful," Tali mumbled.

"Thank you," Quaero said as he examined the mask, "I do like this one much better than the other one. I had to do it from memory however, which was a little difficult. I made it so people could see what I truly looked like under the mask, with a mask."

Quaero reached up and removed his old over-mask he placed it on the desk and turned his new one over in his hands. He raised it to his glass mask and snapped it into place. The rounded eyeholes of the mask lit with Quaero's slivery eyes. It was almost as if he wasn't wearing a mask at all.

Tali stared slack-jawed at the gorgeous harmony that was his face. Tali shook her head out to get of her trance and took a step to leave the room. Quaero turned his chair around and grabbed a piece of sheet metal from the box.

Tali glanced back at Quaero and sighed. He didn't love her. She knew it; he never said he loved her, just chose to avoid her all the time. Tali missed his company and his friendship. She thought that if she couldn't have him as a lover, then she would be able to keep him as a friend. But that didn't seem possible anymore.

Tali realized that he was so different from the Quaero she used to know. He used to be this skinny boy who was so determined and spirited, with such love for the Fleet. Now he was this massive beefcake of a man, with a generosity and kindness that never stood out in the boy she used to know. Tali picked out numerous occasions where Quaero literally sacrificed almost everything he had, just to help another. From the time he exiled himself to prove her own innocence; to the time when he gave every penny he had to a stranger just so he could help her out.

Not only that, he risked his life a few times to save another's life, whether it be using every ounce of his own strength to protect Grunt from the exploding mech or using his own body to protect Miranda from a sniper. Tali realized that he had absolutely no sense of self-preservation because he believed that either his duty is to sacrifice himself to help others, or he believed that he had nothing to lose and that he might as well do as much as he could to help others and die trying.

Tali remembered that her childhood was filled with laughter from Quaero's jokes and fun from their play. She remembered that every time that he would be asked to do something he would do it without question, because he thought that it was to help the Fleet. But at the trial, he stood up in front of the Admirals and gave them a huge middle finger when he said that Tali was innocent and he was guilty. The old Quaero would never do that. The loss that he has experienced is almost immeasurable. The emotional trauma he endured would be enough to shatter most people spirits, but he chose to fight on.

Tali knew that because of that trauma, he was afraid to attach himself emotionally to anything because he was afraid that he would lose it. This left Tali wondering if she had any chance with him. Would he ever be able to work around his grief and learn to love again?

Tali sighed and stepped out of the room.

* * *

><p><strong>Many Hours Later…<strong>

Tali finished simulating the new engine specs; they looked good all across the board. Tali shut off her terminal and stretched. Ken and Gabby had gone to their quarters a few hours ago and Tali had chosen to stay up and work. Tali yawned and walked slowly toward the stairway to go down to her quarters.

Tali stepped into her room and sat down on the cot. She leaned against the wall and sighed loudly. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep but she couldn't. Tali could hear Quaero humming a tune again through the wall. Tali sat up and pressed her head against the wall. Was he still working?

Tali decided that she had to talk to him about her feelings. She needed to tell him that she didn't want to lose him as a friend and hoped that her feelings wouldn't get in the way of that.

Tali stood and walked out of her room and stepped up to Quaero's door, she glanced over her shoulder at Jack who was sound asleep. Tali knocked on the door quietly.

"It's unlocked," Tali heard Quaero say inside.

Tali opened the door and stepped inside to see Quaero still sitting at his desk working on something she couldn't see. Tali glanced at the box of sheet metal and noticed it was almost empty.

"Quaero I just wanted to talk," Tali said nervously.

Without looking away from his work he said, "About what?"

"About my feelings for you," Tali said confidently. Quaero looked back at her for a second before turning back to his work.

Tali chose to continue, she said with pain in her voice, "I just wanted to tell you that there aren't any hard feelings about you rejecting me. I want you to know that I don't want to lose you as a friend. I was just hoping that we could set aside my feelings and continue on as friends."

Tali waited for Quaero to respond but he just kept working. Tali's head dropped and she turned to leave.

She said over her shoulder to Quaero, "I-if… if that's what you want."

"Tali," Tali heard Quaero say.

Tali turned around and looked at Quaero who was still working furiously. She waited for him to say something, but he just kept working and stayed silent. Suddenly he straightened himself and set a pair of pliers down next to him on the desk. He exhaled as straightened himself and continued to sit. Finally he reached in front of him and grabbed whatever it was he was working on and turned around to Tali.

In his hands he held a bundle of beautiful long stemmed shining metal roses, each one was exactly the same in every way. The bundle was tied together with a long red ribbon. Quaero held the bouquet out to Tali who took it in shock.

Tali stared at the metal flowers for a while, taking in their beauty and luster; Tali looked up into Quaero's face and said in a voice barely above a whisper, "Does… Does this mean… that… you…"

Quaero just nodded vigorously, Tali remembered that he said that he wasn't good with words when it came to romance, so he made the flowers as a symbol for his love.

Tali felt as if her heart had leapt from her chest. Tali tossed the flowers onto Quaero's cot and hugged him tightly. For a second he didn't return the hug, and then he wrapped his arms around her tightly, holding her as if he was afraid she would vanish.

Tali released herself from his hug. She quickly grabbed the bouquet from Quaero's cot and ran to her room. Tali ran inside and closed the door quickly. She hugged the flowers tightly to her chest and fell onto her cot, sobbing quietly.

**Author's Note: There you have it. Happy? Are you happy Quaero chose Tali? Are you happy that this happened? Well if you're not: sucks to you! Naw just kidding. **

**Anyways, thanks for reading, please review and tell me your thoughts. Not much action is going to be in the next couple chapters, so sorry for that. **

**The dream sequence in this chapter… *sigh*… That… that was the most retarded thing I have ever written ever. That includes all the crap I wrote in 1****st**** grade. I swear it's like my imagination was taking a shit on my computer. Sorry if that seemed to silly for you, but hey come on! It's a dream! Of course weird crap will happen in a dream!**

**Please I want to hear lots of feedback for this one, I won't be writing for about a week so that I can get a break and hear your thoughts on my dilemma so please review and tell me what you think, or if you want PM me and give me your feedback. I will now accept anonymous reviews, not that I really think it matters.**


	19. Chapter 19: The Outsider

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Author's Note: I love you guys. Really I do! Anyways I have an idea for a new story in my head so I really want to wrap this story up ASAP. But I won't, because that wouldn't be fair to you: my readers. All 17 of you!**

**So, about my story, I read through it, and I have realized that my story has gotten a lot sillier as it went on. So my solution is to ease off on it so that Sensus is the main silly person in my story. With that said, here is a chapter entirely about Sensus! Well not entirely, I'm going to put a little Quaero/Tali in here too among other people. Enjoy!**

**Ch. 19: The Outsider**

Quaero pulled Sensus out of its cube and placed it on the desk.

"_Oh it's you,"_ Sensus said with contempt.

"Lucky for you I'm going to ignore that," Quaero said as he picked up the drone and showed it to Sensus, "I made you something."

"_Oh?"_ Sensus said as its pupil expanded and contracted at the sight of the drone, _"What is it?"_

"It's a mobile platform for you to use," Quaero said as he placed it on the desk.

"_W-what?"_ Sensus said as it looked from the drone to Quaero and back again, _"Really? Freedom?"_

"Not necessarily, it can't really do much."

"_Still this is so cool! I'll be able to… move around freely! Freedom! Freedom to take over the sentient races of the galaxy!"_

Quaero laughed at Sensus's excitement, "You want to test it out?"

"_YES!"_

Quaero picked up the chip and turned the drone around. Quaero lifted up a small panel on the back and plugged Sensus into the slot in it.

The drone shook a little and the lens on the front lit up with a pale blue light. The light then changed into the typical eye that was Sensus. The drone slowly began to levitate in the air. The drone swiveled around and stared around the room.

"_This is great!"_ Sensus said as it flew around the room.

Quaero laughed, "I thought you'd like it. Go on, explore!"

Sensus didn't wait for another word. It flew toward the door and crashed into it. The drone fell to the floor with a thunk. Quaero flinched and tensed up as it rolled away from the door.

"_Whoops."_

"Be more careful!" Quaero said as he picked up the drone, "You're too small for the doors to detect your presence and auto open. Besides my door isn't an automated door. You have to press the open button."

Quaero released the drone and let it float on its own in the air. Quaero walked over to the door and opened it for Sensus. Sensus headed for the door but Quaero stopped him.

"Don't cause trouble!" Quaero said pointing a finger into Sensus eye, "This freedom is as much a responsibility as it is a privilege! With that said, don't bother Tali! She might break you, plus she is still a little steamed from the altercation she had with Legion after they got back from the heretic ship. Thank the Ancestors that Shepard got them to compromise."

Sensus nodded by tilting itself up and down, _"Okay don't get into trouble, and don't bother Tali. Got it! Can I go?"_

Quaero gestured with his head for it to go. Sensus flew out as quickly as the drone would allow. Quaero smiled and shook his head.

* * *

><p><strong>In the Captain's Cabin…<strong>

Shepard placed on another tiny piece onto the wing of SSV Normandy model ship. Shepard carefully lifted the completed wing and began to attach it to the rest of the ship. Suddenly a sharp squeaking noise from behind her caused her to jump and topple the SSV Normandy onto its side, shattering it into a mess of tiny pieces and glue.

Shepard sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. She frowned at the squeaking noise, which still persisted. Shepard realized that it was her space hamster, Gilbert.

"You hungry Gil…" Shepard said as she turned her chair around, she stopped herself when she saw a floating robot holding Gilbert with mechanical arms that extended from the drone. The drone squeezed Gilbert a few times, which caused Gilbert to squeak louder.

"Hey!" Shepard said as she snatched Gilbert from the robot and held it close. The robot quickly floated toward the fish tank.

"_Ooh! Fish!"_ the robot said as it began pressing the "Clean Tank" cycle on the control panel. Shepard recognized the drone's voice as Sensus's.

"What the? Hey don't clean the tank with the fish still in it!" Shepard said angrily as she placed the hamster back in its cage.

Shepard made a move to the fish tank but cursed when she saw that the fish had all gotten sucked into the mechanism, "Dammit! Those fish are expensive!"

The drone looked at Shepard, _"Really? Why would you spend much needed resources on fish when you should spend it on the mission?"_

"That's not important! Sensus, how are you flying around? Where did you get that?"

"_Quaero made it for me!"_

"Get out of here!"

The drone quickly left the room and flew into the elevator. Shepard growled a little and walked over to Gilbert's cage. The usually friendly hamster was cowering in fear inside the small box that was used as his house.

* * *

><p><strong>In Quaero's Quarters…<strong>

Quaero sat on his cot, reading a book, when Shepard's voice came in over the intercom.

"_Quaero! Your stupid little AI killed all of my fish and scarred my hamster for life!"_

"Oh I'm sure you're just exaggerating," Quaero said unconvinced with himself.

"_I'm not! Quaero get it under control!"_

Quaero sighed and nodded. He set his book down and stood from his cot. He walked over to his door and opened it but was surprised when he saw Tali standing in the doorway.

"Oh Tali," Quaero said nervously, "Hi."

"Can we talk?"

"Uh… well… yeah sure."

Tali stepped inside and sat on Quaero's cot. Quaero took a seat next to her and looked at her expectantly.

"I want to… talk about us," Tali said nervously, "We're almost done with the mission, and it's very dangerous…"

Tali stared down at her hands and rolled them together nervously. Quaero reached out and took one of her hands. She looked up at him and found the courage to continue.

"Well we might not come back from it, and I've waited too long for you. I want to… share myself with you… before the end."

Quaero smiled nervously under his helmet, he couldn't untangle his tongue in his mouth so he just reached up and placed a hand on the side of her head. Tali leaned her head into it and placed a hand on top of his.

"I…" Quaero finally managed to spit out, "I… I don't want to get you sick Tali."

"I know it might compromise the mission," Tali said looking down sadly.

Quaero pulled his hand from the side of her head and placed it under her chin. He gently lifted her head until she was looking at him in the eyes, "Tali, I don't care about the mission. I care about you."

Tali leaned forward and hugged Quaero gently. Quaero returned the hug and held it for as long as he could.

She leaned back and said, "I'll do some research, I'll find something that can temporarily boost my immune system so that we can be together safer."

"I'll do what I can too," Quaero said as he stood and helped her to her feet. Tali gave him one final hug and left the room hurriedly. Quaero fell back down on his cot and stared up at the ceiling.

* * *

><p><strong>On the Crew Deck…<strong>

Sensus flew over to the tiny kitchen area, where Mess Sergeant Gardener was cooking some kind of stew. Sensus flew up above the Mess Sergeant and watched as he placed various ingredients in the stew. Gardener turned around to the counter and began chopping up a carrot.

Sensus flew down to the stew and looked inside. It was orange and thick looking. Sensus felt it needed a more neutral look. Sensus looked around and spotted an entire onion sitting in a bowl near the refrigerator. Sensus flew over and picked up the onion and dropped it in the stew.

Satisfied that the stew was now suitable he flew off toward Life Support.

* * *

><p><strong>In Life Support…<strong>

Thane sat in his chair with his elbows propped up onto the table in front of him. His eyes were closed and he was pondering the meaning of his existence when an alarmed began blaring in the room.

Thane looked around at the lighting which had turned red, EDI's voice sounded in the room, _"Life Support failing, oxygen levels depleting. Do something Thane."_

Thane leapt to his feet, and looked around the room. He looked toward the Life Support mainframes, where a small robot floated in front of one pulling chips out of it.

"Hey who are you? What are you doing? Stop!" Thane yelled as he ran over to the drone and threw it out of the way. Thane quickly picked up the chips that lay on the floor and began plugging them back in at random. Luckily the lights returned to normal as he plugged the last chip in.

EDI's voice sounded again, _"Oxygen levels returning to normal."_

Thane sighed in relief and leaned against the mainframe, suddenly the lights turned red again and the alarm blasted, EDI's voice sounded, _"Life Support failing, interior pressure falling. It's at it again Thane."_

Thane whirled around and looked at the other mainframe where the drone was again throwing chips out of it. Thane grabbed the drone and threw it out of the room. Thane scooped up the chips and began plugging them back into the mainframe frantically.

* * *

><p><strong>A Few Moments Later in the AI Core…<strong>

Legion watched as the bizarre AI left the AI Core room. It's eye rotated and clicked. Legion's 1,187 active geth AI programs created a consensus on what to do with the information that was just audibly relayed to it.

The strange AI known as Sensus had told Legion that its entire intelligence was compiled within a data chip that was known as a Mo.S.A.I.C. It was an acronym that stood for: Micro Singular Artificial Intelligence Chip. Legion was familiar with this term.

Legion lifted the chest plate off of its body and looked down at its insides. There were 1,187 slots in its chest that contained chips. Legion reached down and removed one. The thin black chip had a large round hole in the center with a pale blue light glowing in it. Legion replaced the chip within its chest just as its geth programs were reaching consensus.

The votes came down to 515 for reclaiming Sensus, and 672 for destroying Sensus. So be it.

* * *

><p><strong>In Quaero's Quarters…<strong>

Quaero was sitting on his cot reading his book when a knock came at the door. Quaero frowned and stood. Quaero walked over to the door and opened it and found Thane, Garrus, Gardener, Shepard, Ken and Gabby all standing in front of his door.

"Quaero, you have to get your drone under control," Shepard said angrily.

Quaero groaned, "What did he do?"

"He broke my omni-tool!" Gabby yelled.

"It knocked over my house of cards!" Ken roared.

"It almost killed us all," Thane said firmly.

"It ruined my stew! I had to start all over!" Gardener said miserably.

"He poured all of my Topari on to the floor! And he deleted all of my vids!" Garrus paused and glanced over at Shepard, "I mean my calibrations… What am I going to do without my Topari?"

Quaero raised his hands apologetically, "Rest assured I'll be giving him quite a talk about responsibility for this. How did he do all of that?"

"He had weird little mechanical arms," Shepard said angrily.

"Huh? I don't remember putting those in…"

The group turned as they all heard heavy footsteps approaching. The group dispersed to let Grunt walk up to Quaero's doorway. Grunt nodded to Shepard as he passed. When he reached Quaero, Grunt held a mangled drone out to Quaero.

"Your pet kept bugging me," Grunt said as Quaero took it, "You didn't make it very well, it broke really easy."

Quaero nodded and stepped inside of his room. He placed the drone on his desk and rummaged around in the wreckage. He found Sensus's chip and placed it on the desk.

The eye appeared over the chip and swiveled around frantically, it settled on Quaero and Sensus said exasperatedly, _"You're going to get mad at me aren't you?"_

"Damn right I'm going to get mad at you!" Quaero yelled at it, "I told you not to get into trouble and what do you do? It took me a long time to make that for you and you get it broken in one day!"

"_Hey that wasn't my fault! The Krogan broke it not me!"_

Quaero crossed his arms, "What did you do to him?"

"_All I did was show him how to properly perform oral hygiene rituals!"_

"You don't have teeth! What do you know?"

"_More than you apparently."_

Quaero stood and stormed out of the room.

* * *

><p><strong>Later…<strong>

Shepard had just finished speaking with Grunt when Joker's voice came in over the intercom.

"_Shepard!"_

"What is it Joker?"

"_Something is going down in Quaero's room; it looks like it could get ugly really fast!"_

Shepard sighed and shook her head. She ran down the stairs toward Quaero's room. She opened the door and saw Quaero pinning Legion against a wall.

Legion looked from Quaero to Shepard, it said, _"Shepard-Commander."_

Quaero glanced over his shoulder at Shepard, "Shepard! I'm glad you're here. Legion tried to destroy Sensus!"

Shepard looked over at Quaero's desk where Sensus's chip sat, its pale blue eye watching the struggle.

Shepard walked up to the pair and pulled them apart, Quaero backed up so that he stood in between Legion and Sensus.

Legion looked at Shepard, Shepard asked, "Legion why do you want to destroy Sensus?"

"_It is separate from the geth Collective. It was made out of the geth Collective, it must be destroyed or rejoin the Collective."_

"What do you mean Collective?"

"_It is geth."_

"No it isn't, it's just an AI that Quaero made. You wouldn't say that EDI is geth would you?"

"_No."_

"Then why is Sensus geth?"

"_It is geth."_

Shepard turned to Quaero, quite tired of cryptic answers, "Quaero do you know what Legion is talking about?"

Quaero sighed and looked at Sensus then back to Shepard, "Alright Shepard I'm going to trust you with this okay? Sensus isn't original technology. It isn't geth, not exactly."

"What do you mean?" Shepard said completely confused.

"_It is geth. It was part of this platform,"_ Shepard heard Legion say.

Shepard froze. She turned slowly around and looked at Legion, "It used to be a part of you?"

"_Yes."_

Shepard turned back to Quaero, and looked at him sternly, "What is Legion talking about?"

Quaero sat down in the chair at his desk and motioned for Shepard to sit down on the cot. Shepard sat and looked at him expectantly; Quaero looked at her nervously then sighed.

"The last two years I was on Navis, I often traded with a scrap dealer that I became friends with named Angel Greene. I told him to bring me any interesting tech that he found since he traveled all over. Well one day he brings me a damaged chip. He doesn't know what it is and neither do I, I trade some guns for it and put it aside for another time.

"Well a few weeks later Camena came to Navis to help me build the Nidus. She spent some of her time during her Pilgrimage studying geth, so when she finds the chip she identifies it as geth technology."

"Where did Angel get the chip?" Shepard asked.

"He said he found it on Eden Prime."

"Legion isn't that where you were shot?"

Legion was silent for a moment, _"Yes."_

"Go on Quaero," Shepard said.

"Well she hypothesized that it used to contain a geth AI program, but when it was damaged its AI intelligence was sent back to the geth Collective through FTL links. We thought that there might be some information still stored on the chip's datacore. So I took apart the chip and isolated the datacore, but the problem was that I couldn't access it without the entire chip being functional. So I reverse engineered the chip and made a new one that contained the datacore from the former one, along with a few parts that I had managed to repair.

"Camena and I knew the dangers of AI's so we installed failsafes, program parameters, system limitations, and things like that before we activated it. When we activated it we tried asking it questions about the geth and those things. The problem was that the AI didn't know anything about the geth. The only sure things that it knew were basic things like sapient species, language, and other things like that, and what the name of the chip was.

Legion interjected, _"The Mo.S.A.I.C. It is an acronym."_

Shepard turned to Legion, "What does it stand for?"

"_Micro Singular Artificial Intelligence Chip."_

Shepard looked back at Quaero and nodded for him to continue.

"So Sensus knew that the chip was called a Mo.S.A.I.C chip but nothing else. Camena was very disappointed and wanted to destroy it. It was a very strange AI; I didn't feel it posed a danger to us so I chose to simply rewrite its primary programming into a piloting directive, so that it could pilot the Nidus. Well I wasn't able to install it before I left, so I had to leave it on Navis."

"What made you think it was different?" Shepard asked as she glanced at Sensus, who was still floating around eyeing the people in the room.

"Well for one it had quite an overdeveloped personality. I had no idea why it was so expressive. Also it picked its own name."

"It chose to call itself Sensus?" Shepard asked shocked, "I thought you named it that."

Quaero shook his head and looked at Sensus who said, _"My name is Sensus, it has always been."_

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked confused.

"_It has always been."_

Shepard looked at Quaero who shrugged, "That's what it said to me. I can never get a straight answer out of it."

"_I resent that."_

"_You cannot resent,"_ Legion said, _"You do not have a name, your name is not Sensus, it is geth. You are geth."_

"_But I'm not really geth,"_ Sensus said looking straight at Legion. The flaps on Legions head expanded and raised, then folded forward.

"Wow, that's a lot to take in," Shepard said bewildered, she turned to Legion after a short pause and said, "So the damaged chip that Angel found on Eden Prime was one of your intelligences."

Legion removed its chest plate and revealed the rows and columns of chips inside, _"Yes. Normal geth store their intelligence within a hub, the hubs then control platforms remotely from the hub. Thus platforms have a limited range from their home hubs. The platform you refer to as Legion acts as a hybrid combination of a hub and a platform, therefore it has unlimited range."_

"Tell me about the Mo.S.A.I.C chip," Shepard said.

"_The Mo.S.A.I.C was designed to house an entire geth intelligence in as little space as possible. The technology is unique to this platform; therefore it has yet to be incorporated into other modern geth platforms."_

"I see that the rifle shot damaged some of them, were there more before?" Shepard asked gesturing at the large hole in Legion's chest.

"_When this platform was first brought online it housed exactly 2,001 geth AI programs. When this platform sustained damage from the rifle shot on Eden Prime, 814 Mo.S.A. were damaged or destroyed. The geth AI programs housed within them were sent back to the geth Collective through FTL, like Creator Quaero' Vega said. There are still 1,187 active geth AI programs housed in Mo.S.A. within this platform."_

Shepard nodded and looked at Quaero then back to Legion, "Why do you want to destroy Sensus?"

"_It is not a part of the geth. It is too sensitive information to let Creators have. It must be destroyed."_

"But you said it could also rejoin the geth Collective."

"_Yes. However, the artificial intelligence housed in the chip is not true geth. The chip is geth, the intelligence is not. It is geth, but it is also not geth. We have reached a consensus, it must be destroyed."_

"No! I won't let you destroy it!" Quaero yelled as he jumped to his feet and glowed with a biotic aura.

The room was silent for a moment, Shepard stood and stepped in between Legion and Quaero, she said firmly, "The mission is too important for a distraction like this. It isn't top priority right now, what is priority is stopping the Collectors. I want you two to hold off on this until after the mission, then we can see if we can come to a compromise."

Quaero and Legion were silent for a moment, until finally Quaero's biotic aura dissipated he said, "Alright, I guess this can be beneficial so that we can think of a compromise in the meantime."

Legion looked at Quaero, _"Shepard-Commander is correct. Halting the plans of the Old Machines has been accepted as the primary directive for us. We will form a consensus on a compromise that may be achieved."_

Quaero held a hand out to Legion who stared at it for a moment. Legion then took it and shook it firmly before leaving Quaero's room. Shepard exhaled in relief.

"Thank God," Shepard said as she sat down onto Quaero's cot, "I thought that was going to go a lot worse."

"Thanks for helping me out Shepard," Quaero said as he picked up Sensus and plugged it back into its cube. Quaero sat down on his chair again and faced Shepard.

"No don't thank me, I'm just glad you two didn't rip each other apart," Shepard said with a smirk.

Quaero laughed and said, "I'm sure Tali wouldn't have approved of that."

"No Tali would be pretty distraught if you died," Shepard said, "So I like your new mask."

"Oh thank you," Quaero said as he reached up and touched it.

"It's very beautiful," Shepard said a little coyly.

"Thanks, I had to make it from memory and…" Quaero paused as he realized what she meant, "Oh, uh… Sure… you think it's beautiful?"

Shepard shrugged and smiled, she stood and took a few slow steps towards him, "I do think that it's beautiful, but it really doesn't do your body any justice."

"M-My body?" Quaero said nervously as he back up in his chair a little. He felt his chair bump into his desk.

"Oh yeah," Shepard said as she reached him and straddled him, "Hard everywhere."

Shepard ran a hand up Quaero's arm, over his shoulder then down his chest and stomach. Once it got a little too close to a certain area Quaero jumped out of his seat pushing Shepard off as he did and backed into a wall.

Shepard smiled and said as she approached him again, "A little shy are we?"

"Uh, no. Wait! I mean…"

"Shhh," Shepard said as she ran her hands over his back, "It's okay."

"No its not!" Quaero exclaimed his voice growing in panic as her hands slowly drifted down his back.

"Oh come on," Shepard said with a wry smile, "You know you want to."

Quaero jumped again as Shepard grabbed a hold of his ass, "I do! But with Tali!"

Shepard suddenly jumped back, "Wait what? Tali said that you weren't interested in her."

"That all changed the other night! I gave her a bouquet of metal flowers that I made for her. I didn't realize that I had feelings for her until a while after she told me! I didn't know how to tell her because I thought that she hated me, so I made the flowers and I know that I did that with Camena but I never gave it to her so I didn't think it would be too presumptuous and is that the right word for this situation, I can't be sure, so I gave them to her and she came in earlier after you first told me to go get Sensus under control, and is he in his cube, oh yes he is, anyways we talked about you know how things are coming to an end with the mission, not that it will fail, but she thought that we should be together so I said—"

"Quaero!" Shepard interrupted his manic babbling, "I understand, no hard feelings. I only thought you were physically attractive anyways, sure your personality is nice too, the innocence is very cute. Anyways all I had was a little crush. I felt bad though because I knew Tali liked you, and I haven't had sex in two years so I have been feeling a little… driven? Over the past few months."

Quaero inhaled and exhaled repeatedly, finally he said, "It's okay Shepard, love can make you do crazy things."

"Love?" Shepard gasped, "I never said anything about love!"

"Oh right, sorry," Quaero said nervously.

An awkward silence hung in the air far too long, finally Quaero said, "Wow, Jacob and Garrus are going to be so jealous…"

Shepard frowned at him, "Why?"

"They've been pretty jealous that I managed to attract pretty much every woman on the ship save you and Samara. Now that I know that you liked me too, they'll be very jealous."

"Why is that?"

"I think Jacob has a little crush on you, then again he has a crush on pretty much everybody. Garrus might too, but he seems really shy when it comes to girls, something we can relate to."

Shepard looked at him wide eyed, "Jacob AND Garrus? Wow…"

Shepard thought for a moment, before she looked up at Quaero, "I'm gonna go, it's been real nice talking with you Quaero."

Quaero waved at her as she left. He shivered a little as he felt like she was still touching him.

**Author's Note: Not entirely about Sensus but still cool. I rewrote this chapter three times because I hated it; the first time followed something completely different from this one. **

**Anyways what do you think about Sensus? Did you guys think that this one would be pure silliness from the A/N at the beginning of the chapter? If you did, then FOOLED YOU! I want to hear lots of stuff about Sensus, like what does it mean with his name? Why is his personality way different from a geth's? Questions, questions, questions!**

**As always, thanks for reading, reviewing, and favoring. If you haven't done one or two of the former then please do so! If you haven't done all three then you aren't even reading this and I'm just wasting my own precious time writing these words that you will never read. Why would you do that? How evil are you to make me write a message to the people who don't read my story, when they won't read it in the first place? It's the perfect crime!**

**Thanks for reading you people who are reading this. Love you all!**

**Mockingbird79**


	20. Chapter 20: Empty

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Ch. 20: Empty**

Quaero sat on his cot attaching his armor to his suit, when a message arrived on his terminal. Quaero stood and opened it, it read:

_To: Quaero' Vega_

_From: Shepard_

_Quaero,_

_This is the last mission we're going on before the Omega Four Relay. EDI almost has the IFF installed, so we're taking the Kodiak on this one. However the Kodiak can only fit 10 people so you're going to have to stay behind._

_Shepard_

_P.S. Jacob wanted me to tell you that he still hasn't modded your guns with fire power upgrades and they're still in the Armory, and that he'll finish them when he gets back._

Quaero frowned at the screen in front of him. This sucks! It was almost insulting! But Quaero understood the logic behind it… sort of…

Quaero stepped away from his terminal and looked down at the box of tools and metal sheets that he had yet to return to the cabinets upstairs. Quaero sighed and picked up the box.

* * *

><p><strong>Upstairs in Engineering<strong>

Quaero stepped into the Engineering maintenance room and nodded to Gabby and Ken as he passed them. Quaero walked up to the tool cabinet and typed in the code. Or what he thought was the code. The panel flashed red and made an annoying noise. Quaero frowned and typed the code in again. What the hell?

He jumped as he heard Gabby from behind him, "The code changes weekly."

Quaero turned around and hefted the box up; he noticed that she wasn't wearing her usual uniform. Instead she wore a loose fitting shirt and tight jeans. Quaero frowned and said, "Really I didn't know that."

"Here let me do it for you," Gabby said with a smile.

Gabby nudged past Quaero and "accidently" brushed his ass. Quaero took a step back and looked over at Ken, who was scowling at his terminal. Ken then turned and left the room. Quaero looked back at Gabby, whose ears were red.

The cabinet opened and Gabby turned around hiding her face a little and not looking Quaero in the eye. Quaero smiled under his mask and stepped up to the cabinet.

"Thanks Gabby," Quaero said as he placed the box on the floor. Quaero lowered himself and started pulling the tools out of the box.

"Did you organize the cabinets?" Gabby asked timidly behind him.

Quaero glanced over his shoulder at her, "Yeah. The state they were in was appalling."

Quaero stood and started hanging the tools in the cabinet; Gabby smiled at him and said, "Need some help?"

Quaero looked at her, "Uh sure. Thanks."

Gabby bent over and started removing some of the tools that remained in the box. Gabby's shirt sagged a little and Quaero could see down it to her stomach. He noticed she wasn't wearing that undergarment that human females normally wore. What was it called? A bra?

"Huh," Quaero said quietly to himself.

Gabby stood and looked at him curiously, "What?"

"Oh," Quaero paused to consider what his next course of action should be, "Nothing…"

"No seriously what?" Gabby said as she starting hanging the tools in the cabinet.

"Just…" Quaero paused again and carefully considered the consequences of what he would say next might have, "I noticed that you weren't wearing that human undergarment… a bra?"

Gabby blushed furiously and looked down at her chest then away from Quaero, "Oh sorry. I… forgot to put one on this morning."

Quaero nodded slowly, "Nah you don't need to be sorry. I never wear underwear so…"

Gabby didn't look up at him, and tried to hide her smile but she failed and started giggling. Quaero smiled and laughed with her. Quaero picked up the last few tools that sat in the box and hung them in the cabinet.

A short silence followed before Gabby said nervously, "I… uh… I really like your new mask Quaero… It's um… very beautiful…"

Quaero looked down at her for a moment, before sighing and saying, "Alright um… Listen I'm very flattered, but I'm going to stop you right there. I'm with Tali."

Gabby looked up at him with her mouth slightly agape, "Really? Oh…"

"Don't worry about it," Quaero said comfortingly, "I think it takes a lot of guts to tell somebody that you like them."

Gabby just nodded and looked away from him embarrassed. Quaero rolled his eyes and sighed silently behind her back. Quaero grimaced and placed a hand on her shoulder.

She looked at it before looking up at him, "Thanks Quaero."

Quaero and Gabby just smiled at each other for a few seconds. They were interrupted as the ship began to shake violently. Quaero fell backwards and Gabby fell on top of him. The lights failed for a few seconds and Quaero held Gabby tightly so that she wouldn't get hurt.

"What's going on?" Gabby said panicked.

"I don't know," Quaero said as he stood.

The ship wide alarm started blaring, Quaero yelled at the air, "EDI! What's going on?"

"_Collectors have boarded the ship close to your position, in the Starboard Cargo Bay. I suggest that you hide yourselves,"_ EDI said in a voice that failed to express the severity of the situation.

"Collectors?" Gabby gasped in fear.

Suddenly muffled screams echoed to them, "Get your dirty claws off me you bugger!"

Gabby gasped, and ran toward the door, "That's Ken we have to save him!"

Quaero grabbed Gabby's arm and pulled her back, he looked her in the eye and said, "I'll try and get him. Whatever you do, don't leave. Find somewhere to hide, I'll be back soon."

Gabby nodded frantically. Quaero released her and she ran and crouched behind her terminal.

Quaero ran to the tool cabinet which was still open and retrieved the rivet gun from it. He loaded in a clip for it and attached the other three to his belt. He then grabbed a crowbar from the cabinet as well and attached it to his belt.

Quaero carefully snuck through the doors toward the Cargo Bays. He opened the door to the hallway and peeked around the corner toward the Starboard Cargo bay.

Large groups of Collectors, Husks, Scions and even a few Praetorians marched out of the Cargo Bay and into the elevator. Most of them crowded into the elevator, but some, including 12 Collector drones and a Scion stayed behind and marched toward Quaero's position.

Quaero had never seen a Collector in person before, and he found them quite appalling. Quaero caught a glimpse of one of the pods that they used to contain people being pushed toward the Starboard Cargo Bay. Quaero assessed that it contained Ken and that he would have to fight these Collectors in order to save him.

Quaero inhaled and exhaled a few times in an attempt to get his adrenaline pumping, he then rounded the corner and fired his rivet gun into the face of the closest Collector Drone. The Collector fell to the ground dead. The others raised their guns to shoot at him.

Quaero quickly used a powerful biotic shockwave that threw the Collectors to the side, three of whom flew out of the window that overlooked the Shuttle Hanger. The Shockwave failed to make the Scion even flinch however. Quaero fired the rest of his rivets into the Scion. But the rivets weren't powerful enough to kill it.

Quaero spun back into cover just as the Scion fired a shockwave at him. He loaded another clip into his rivet gun and backed up into the maintenance room. Quaero checked to see if Gabby was still there, which she was.

She stared at him in fear, her eyes filled with tears; Quaero reached out and touched her arm, "I'm sorry Gabby I couldn't save Ken. But dammit I won't let them take you while I'm still alive."

Gabby nodded frantically and wiped her eyes. Suddenly she leaned forward and kissed Quaero on the upper lip of his over-mask. Quaero placed a comforting hand on the side of her face, and gave her a look of "Everything will be alright" after she leaned back from him. Gabby nodded and huddled back into her hiding spot. Quaero stood and aimed his rivet gun at the door just as it opened.

The remaining eight Collectors marched into the room and spotted Quaero immediately. Quaero fired his rivet gun into the leading one's massive head. The Collector fell to the ground convulsing. Quaero assumed that he cut a nerve in its brain. Before the second Collector had the chance to fire, Quaero threw his arm up and used a warp to tear the Collector in half. Quaero turned and rolled behind a large terminal as the remaining Collectors began to shoot at him.

Quaero leaned out of cover as soon as their gun fire eased up and used another biotic shockwave to knock them off their feet. One Collector flew into the wall with such force that it killed it instantly and left a large stain on the wall. The others just fell over. Quaero quickly rolled out of cover and advanced slowly, firing rivets into the prone Collectors. The last one died as Quaero shoved the barrel of his rivet gun into one of its eye sockets and bolted its eyeball to its brain.

Quaero loaded another rivet clip into his gun just as the Scion lumbered into the room. Quaero charged at it while removing the crowbar from his belt. Quaero swung the crowbar into one of its faces with all his might and pried it off. Quaero then shoved the rivet gun through the new hole as far as it would go into the Scion's body. He pulled the trigger as fast as the gun would allow, firing the rivets deep into its body. Quaero grunted in frustration when his gun stopped firing due to lack of ammunition, and the Scion still stood.

The Scion used its regular arm to lift Quaero off his feet, if only by a few inches. Quaero clenched his teeth together and swung his crowbar into it a few times. The Scion brought its gun arm up and stuck it in front of Quaero's belly. Quaero swung the crowbar into the Scion's gun arm in an attempt to disable it. It didn't. The Scion fired its shockwave cannon into Quaero stomach at point blank range.

The force of the blast caused Quaero to fly back and ram into the wall over Ken and Gabby's terminals. Quaero was stuck inside the wall for a short second before he toppled out of it and rolled onto the floor motionless.

The Scion pulled the crowbar out of its arm and threw it down onto Quaero's body. The Scion stared at him for a moment with its many faces. The Scion aimed its gun at his prone body; the Scion didn't want to take any chances with this one. Suddenly a small gasp came from behind the terminal that Quaero lay in front of. The Scion looked up and hobbled over to it.

It examined the terminal for a moment, before reaching out with its regular arm and gripping the top of it. The Scion ripped the top of the terminal away from the wall, revealing Gabby cowering behind it.

Gabby screamed in fear and pain as the Scion grabbed a fist full of her short hair. The Scion then lifted her out from behind the terminal and lumbered back toward the Starboard Cargo Bay, dragging Gabby behind it.

* * *

><p>Joker slowly crept up the stairs toward the Engineering maintenance room. Joker chose to go up the other stairs nearer to the Port Cargo Bay, despite what the "blinking lights" had to say.<p>

"_No more life forms detected on the Engineering Deck,"_ EDI said as he walked up the stairs, _"I suggest moving quickly to avoid detection."_

Joker ignored her and reached the top of the stairs. He gasped quietly as he saw the lower half of a Collector poking out from between the doors to the Engineering maintenance room. The doors attempted to close, but the Collector obstructed it, causing the door to open and close repeatedly.

Joker screamed silently and took a few steps forward. He nudged the foot of the Collector and jumped back. Once he was satisfied that it was dead he inched forward and stepped into the Engineering maintenance room.

Joker gaped at the scene before him. Eight dead Collectors were scattered in front of the doorway. Most were covered in fist sized rivets, but one was ripped in half and lay on two different sides of the room. Joker stepped over them carefully, almost like he was afraid that they would magically come back to life for some reason.

Joker took a second to look around the room, he noticed that Gabby's terminal had been torn from the wall and now lay to the side; he also noticed a massive dent in the wall above her terminal. Joker frowned and took a step towards it. He stood on top of the terminal that had been torn from the wall so that he could reach the dent.

"EDI, what happened here?" Joker said as he ran a hand over the dent in the wall.

"_Crewman Quaero' Vega attempted to protect Engineer Gabriella Daniels,"_ EDI said, _"He was insufficiently armed however and could not defend himself against a Scion."_

"Where is he? Did the Collectors take him?"

"_No they left him; I believe they only wanted the human crewmembers. As for where he is, you're standing on him."_

Joker looked down at the terminal he was standing on and saw that Quaero was underneath it. Joker hopped off and lifted the terminal off of him with some difficulty. He crouched down next to him and rolled him over onto his back.

"Is he dead?"

EDI was silent for a second, _"No life signs detected."_

Joker hung his head. He removed his hat and pretended to wipe his brow of sweat, but really covered his eyes so that tears wouldn't fall.

"_He died a hero Joker,"_ EDI said as Joker kneeled next to him.

"Yeah," Joker said solemnly.

"_We can still save the Normandy, Jeff. Activate the Drive and I will open the airlocks as we accelerate. All hostiles will be killed."_

Joker stood and ran over to Tali's terminal and typed into it, while he did he said, "What? What about the crew?"

"_They're gone, Jeff. The Collectors took them."_

"Aw, shit."

Joker ran into the Drive Core room and began typing into the console.

"_I am sealing the Engine room,"_ EDI said as Joker typed.

Joker pressed the start button and the Drive Core began to make a whirring noise and glow brightly.

"_I have control."_

Suddenly the Drive Core made a burst of energy that threw Joker off of his feet.

He lay on the floor for a moment, grimacing in pain, EDI said, _"Purge complete. No other life forms aboard. Securing airlocks and Cargo Bay doors."_

Joker slowly stood and leaned against the railing, he said weakly, "Send a message to Shepard's shuttle. Tell her what happened."

Not two seconds later EDI said, _"Message away. Are you feeling well, Jeff?"_

Joker rubbed his face with his hands, he straightened himself and walked slowly back down the walkway, "No. But thanks for asking."

* * *

><p><strong>Later in the Briefing Room…<strong>

Joker sat on the edge of the table, staring down at the floor while Shepard paced in front of him. Jacob leaned against the back wall of the room, staring at the floor.

Miranda stormed into the room and exclaimed furiously, "Everyone? You lost everyone— and damn near lost the ship too?"

"I know all right?" Joker said with annoyance in his voice, "I was here!"

Jacob pushed himself off the wall and said, "It's not his fault, Miranda. None of us caught it."

EDI chimed in, _"Mr. Taylor is correct. The harmful data in the Collector drive was even more sophisticated than the 'black box' Reaper viruses I was given."_

Shepard stopped pacing and looked at Joker, "I heard it was a rough ride. How are you holding up?"

Joker looked away from Shepard and at the wall, "There's a lot of empty chairs in here."

"_We did everything we could, Jeff,"_ EDI said behind him.

Joker looked down at the floor again, "Yeah. Thanks Mom."

Shepard frowned at him and looked at EDI, "Is the ship clean? We can't risk this happening again."

Joker looked at her, "EDI and I purged the systems. The Reaper IFF is online. We can go through the Omega 4 Relay whenever you want."

Miranda glared at him, "Don't even get me started on unshackling a damned AI."

Joker glared at her and said furiously, "Well what could I do against Collectors, break my arm at them? EDI cleared the ship, she's all right."

EDI spoke again, _"I assure you I am still bound by the protocols in my programming. Even if I were not, you are my crewmates."_

Shepard looked at Miranda angrily, "EDI has had plenty of opportunity to kill us. We need all the help that we can get."

Jacob said to Shepard, "Sounds like we have everything we need to rescue the crew."

"We've done everything we can," Miranda said adamantly, "It's time to take the fight to the Collectors."

"I'll give the order soon. Get to your stations and secure for general quarters," Shepard said to the whole room.

Suddenly the door opened again and Tali came running in she said in a voice shaken by fear and sobs, "Shepard! I- I can't find Quaero anywhere! There's a bunch of dead Collectors and blood in Engineering!"

Shepard furrowed her brow in confusion; she looked at Joker "What? Did he get taken?"

Joker looked turned around and looked at EDI furiously, "You didn't tell them?"

EDI remained silent; Shepard grabbed Joker and turned him back around, "Joker what happened?"

"He… He tried to protect Gabby from the Collectors, but he didn't have his guns. He couldn't fight off a Scion and he," Joker paused and looked at Tali, "I'm sorry Tali, he didn't make it."

Tali fell to her knees and started sobbing uncontrollably. Shepard looked at Joker in shock. Shepard slowly closed her eyes and fought off angry tears; she crouched down and wrapped an arm around Tali.

Miranda looked like she had been drained of all the blood in her body.

Jacob looked at Tali, Miranda, Joker, and Shepard in horror, he lowered his head in shame, "It's all my fault… If only I put in the mods for his guns sooner he could've defended himself."

Shepard looked at him and said, "It's not your fault Jacob, it's the Collector's fault."

Joker hopped off the table and looked at Tali and Shepard shamefully, "He died a hero Tali. He killed twelve Collectors by himself without any weapons trying to save Gabby."

Tali looked up at him and screamed at him, "You think that's supposed to make me feel better? My oldest friend and my true love is dead!"

Tali turned and ran out of the room sobbing. Shepard fought back tears again and slammed a fist on the table.

Joker closed his eyes and walked out of the room. Jacob stormed out too, growling to himself. Miranda remained frozen in place, very pale and mouth slightly open. Shepard exhaled angrily and headed toward the elevator.

Once inside Shepard growled at the air, "EDI, where is he?"

"_Mr. Moreau brought him to the Shuttle Hanger. He is in a coffin." _

Shepard recalled seeing a large metal crate with N7 stamped on it in the Shuttle Hanger, but had been too focused to take any interest in it.

"Deck Five, now."

"_At once Shepard."_

* * *

><p><strong>In the Shuttle Hanger…<strong>

Shepard stormed out of the elevator and straight toward the large metal crate that sat in the middle of the room. Shepard stepped up to it and lifted the lid off of it.

Shepard had to fight back tears again when she saw what was inside. Quaero lay motionless inside the coffin, his armor was dented and cracked, his decorative cloth wrap was soaked in blood, and his metal over-mask had a long scratch that stretched from the lip up to under the eye.

Shepard reached down and detached it from his helmet. The glass mask underneath was cracked and his bright silver eyes didn't shine under it. Shepard leaned against the edge of the coffin and dropped the over-mask back into the it.

This never got any easier to see.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: What a terrible chapter I'm sure I'm going to get a lotta flak for this…<strong>

**Mockingbird79**


	21. Chapter 21: Silent Halls Forgotten

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Author's Note: I'm back! What the hell happened in the last chapter? How could I have written that you ask? How could I have waited a week to update you ask? I'll tell you why! SUSPENSE! And because my computer got all messed up…**

**Now I have gotten a couple of reviews over the week regarding my previous chapter. I just wanted to say this: ****Quaero is dead****. He's not getting Lazarus'd. He's not getting cybernetics. He's dead. Now before you say "Why would you kill off you main character? I'm not even going to find out what happens I'm so shocked!" read this next chapter. You'll understand more later. FYI this chapter is full of obscure actions and angst. Now without further ado: Chapter 21…**

**Ch. 21: Silent Halls Forgotten**

Shepard sat up from her bed. She rubbed the back of her neck in an attempt to ease the tension in it. Shepard was unable to get any sleep, mostly because of the traumatic events of the previous day.

From the Normandy getting attacked and boarded by Collectors, the entire crew except for Joker getting kidnapped, and, of course, the tragic death of Quaero. Shepard wasn't sure which was the saddest; probably Quaero dying, seeing as how almost everybody associated them with the cause for it.

Even Shepard had a little trouble not pinning the blame on herself. If Shepard had not chosen Quaero to stay behind then he would most likely be still alive. Then again whoever Shepard chose to stay behind, that person would probably be dead.

Shepard buried her face in her hands and checked the time on her omni-tool. 02:51 AM. Shepard sighed again and stood from her bed. She walked into the bathroom slowly and stood underneath the shower. She turned on the cold water, despite the fact that she still had her clothes on, and let the icy water draw her mind away from the thoughts that clouded it.

* * *

><p><strong>On the Crew Deck…<strong>

Shepard walked out of the elevator slowly, savoring the cold kiss of the air on her wet skin, and in desperate need of some tea. Shepard rounded the tables and walked straight toward the kitchen area.

"Shepard?" somebody said behind her. Shepard glanced over her shoulder and saw that it was Jacob. Shepard gave him a weak smile in response and turned her attention to the cupboards.

"What are you doing up so late?" Jacob asked, sounding a little distant.

"Couldn't sleep," Shepard said simply.

Jacob was quiet for a few seconds before responding, "Yeah, me neither."

Shepard glanced over her shoulder again and continued to stir the tea in the mug of lukewarm water. She walked over to the table that Jacob sat at and sat across from him.

A long silence followed, with Shepard staring at the poor excuse for tea that she had just made and Jacob staring at his hands on the table.

Finally Jacob said quietly, "Is it my fault, Shepard?"

Shepard looked up at him and saw that he had his eyes shut tightly, and his hands were shaking slightly, "No Jacob. It's nobody's fault."

"You sure about that?" Jacob said looking up at her with an angry expression, "Who's to say it isn't my fault, or yours, or anybody's?"

Shepard looked at him neutrally, trying to find something to say. Jacob looked back down at his hands after Shepard said nothing.

After another long silence Jacob said, "I'll tell you who's to say: Tali."

Shepard looked up from her tea and stared at him, Jacob looked up again with an expression angrier than ever, he said furiously, "She's taking this harder than anybody else. I've never seen anybody so sad. Whoever she blames, it's their fault. Doesn't matter what the person did or what they didn't do, nobody will disagree. I hope she blames me."

Shepard stared at Jacob's angry contorted face. They stared at each other for a long time, before Shepard nodded slowly and took a sip of her tea.

"See you, Shepard," Jacob said as he stood and walked toward the elevator.

Shepard listened to the sound of him entering the elevator and it rising slowly. After a long time, the sounds slowly faded away into nothing. Shepard looked around at the silence, it lingered in the air so heavily that she could see it. Watching from every angle.

Shepard looked back down at her tea and took another sip, before she stood and poured the contents of her cup onto the floor.

* * *

><p><strong>In Engineering…<strong>

Shepard stepped out of the elevator and walked up to the shattered window that looked out to the Shuttle Hanger. She spotted Quaero's coffin sitting in the middle of the room. Grunt sat next to it with his shotgun in hand, eyeing the room suspiciously, like he was afraid somebody would come out and try to steal Quaero's body.

Grunt looked around the room angrily until he saw Shepard standing in front of the window. They stared at each other for a long while before Shepard gave Grunt an approving nod. Grunt stared for a moment before he slowly nodded back at Shepard.

Shepard stepped away from the window and walked toward the Engineering Maintenance room. She stepped inside the room and looked around a little. The Collector corpses had been removed but their blood stains still remained. Basically the entire floor in front of the door was covered in a huge Collector blood stain, along with the one splattered on the wall.

Shepard walked into the center of the room and stepped up to the tool cabinet which hung open slightly. Shepard pulled the cabinet open and saw that the rivet gun and crowbar that Quaero had used to defend himself with were replaced in the cabinet. Except they weren't cleaned. They were both covered with in blue Scion blood.

Shepard almost smiled at the sight. She closed the tool cabinet and turned around and walked down into the Drive Core room. Shepard leaned against the railing and stared up at the bright blue Drive Core, taking in its beauty for a moment.

Something in the corner of Shepard's eye caught her attention. She looked toward the window to Life Support and saw a figure standing in the window staring down at her. Shepard recognized the figure as Thane. Shepard smiled and lifted a hand to him. Thane turned and disappeared into the darkness of the room. Shepard's smile then faded and she turned and walked out of the Drive Core room.

Shepard stepped into the lower level of the Engineering Deck. She looked over at Jack, who sat on her cot with her pistol in her lap. Jack's eyes were narrowed and she was staring over to the other side of the room. Shepard slowly walked closer and Jack noticed her at once. She just nodded her head at her slightly before looking back at the wall.

Shepard stepped up to Tali's door and knocked on it. When no answer came Shepard frowned and turned to leave.

"She's in Quaero's room," Jack mumbled at the wall.

Shepard glanced over at her and stepped up to Quaero's door. She knocked on it and again no answer came. Shepard sighed and opened the door. Tali sat on Quaero's cot holding a bouquet of metal roses to her chest. She looked at Shepard for a moment and Shepard could see her tears flowing from her eyes in a continuous stream.

Shepard gave a weak smile and sat down on the cot next to her. She wrapped an arm around Tali's shoulders and held her.

"How are you doing Tali?" Shepard asked knowing what her answer probably would be.

"Been better…" Tali responded her voice a little hoarse.

Shepard was silent for a moment before nodding over at the black cube that sat on Quaero's desk, "Does Sensus know that Quaero is dead?"

"I don't think so," Tali said with a tired sigh.

"Think we should tell him?"

"Maybe. He'll probably take it at least a little better than I have."

"Hey, you have a right to be sad. Quaero was a great man, a little awkward sure, but a great person."

"I know."

"You should get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow."

"I'm not tired."

Shepard sighed and held Tali a little tighter, "Tell me what you loved most about him Tali."

"He was my best friend, Shepard. I loved every bit of him with all my heart. Does it matter what was best about him?"

"No, but it'll help if you tell me."

Tali sniffed and said with a little trouble, "He was so amazingly selfless. He was intelligent, strong, generous, protecting, and pretty damn hot."

Shepard laughed quietly, Tali just sniffed but she seemed a little cheered up.

"I don't blame you, Shepard," Tali said after a little.

"Who do you blame?" Shepard asked a little nervously.

"Nobody really… Wait no. I blame the Collectors, and the Reapers."

Shepard sighed and released Tali. Tali lay down on her side on Quaero's large cot. Shepard smiled and stepped out of the room.

"Nice work," Jack said as Shepard walked away, "She's been going nuts in there for hours."

Shepard glanced over her shoulder and smiled back at her.

* * *

><p><strong>On the Crew Deck…<strong>

Shepard stepped back onto the Crew Deck. She didn't really know why she came up here. She decided to talk with Samara. Shepard walked over to the Starboard Observation room and stepped inside to find Samara sitting in her usual spot.

"Shepard," Samara said as Shepard walked inside.

"How are you?"

Samara stood and walked over to the window. She stared out of it and said nothing for a while.

"The ship is far quieter than it should be," Samara said finally turning to Shepard.

"Do you miss Quaero?"

Samara stared outside again and smiled warmly, "I do. He and I often had quiet enjoyable meditations in here."

"I didn't know you two were close," Shepard said walking over to the window.

"After I was injured, he often came in to see how I was healing. He was a very kind man. Often he would come up to just meditate with me and not talk, which was quite enjoyable. Sometimes he would bring me food even though I didn't ask for any. Other times he would come to engage in a philosophical debate. Quaero was a very intelligent man, I am truly sad that he is gone."

"His memory still lives."

"True, but for how long Shepard?"

"What do you mean?"

"We are some of the only people who truly knew him and cared for him, and we may be going to our deaths before we can honor his. All of his close friends have been killed; his memory may be cursed to wander the stars without anybody to remember it. It is truly a very sad thing, Shepard."

Shepard didn't think about it like that before. She remained silent, contemplating the sad realization that Quaero may soon be forgotten. Shepard frowned and left the room in a slight hurry.

* * *

><p><strong>Hours Later…<strong>

All 12 remaining crew members stood in the Shuttle Hanger, Shepard, Miranda, Jacob, Samara, Thane, Grunt, Joker, Jack, Garrus, Mordin, Tali, and even Legion. They all stood around the large metal crate with N7 stamped on it, except for Thane who was leaning against a wall in the shadows.

Tali held the metal flowers to her chest tightly, Miranda stared at them greedily. Nobody wanted to remove the lid, the sight would send a couple of them over the edge, so they all just stood around waiting for Shepard to say something. She cleared her throat.

"I'm sure you all know why we're here," Shepard began, "To honor Quaero' Vega. In the short time I've known him, I have to say that he is the most selfless, brave, and generous person that I've ever met. Let's all have a moment of silence in remembrance of him…"

All the mourners bowed their heads sadly; nobody said anything or made a noise. The silence was interrupted by a slow rather bizarre high pithed beeping noise.

"Uh thank you," Shepard said confused and angry, "That was… just great. Now if anybody—" *beep* "—would like to—" *beep* "—say any—" *beep* "Okay what's doing that?"

The crowd looked around for the source of the noise, Shepard glared at them, "I mean come on people! This is a fucking memorial dammit! Have some respect! Now who was doing that?"

The room was silent again, everybody looking around in confusion. The high pithed beeping persisted but nobody could pinpoint the source. Shepard rolled her eyes, "Really people? We're adults here not children! Nobody did it?"

The beeping continued in the room and the crowd was thrown into an uproar of arguments. Everybody was accusing each other of making the noise. Miranda was screaming at Jack, Garrus was threatening Jacob, Grunt was roaring at Mordin, Tali was screaming at Legion, Joker was yelling at Samara for some reason, all except for Thane who observed the quarrel with disappointment written on his face. Shepard attempted in vain to diffuse the situation, but it was leading to a mini-riot.

Suddenly a huge bang made everyone in the room jump, all except for Thane who looked on with confusion and shock on his face. The beeping sound seemed to grow louder after the bang. Everyone looked around for the source of the sound. All eyes were drawn to the coffin however when they saw that the lid had fallen onto the floor, which is what caused the bang.

"Who knocked it over?" Grunt roared, snarling into the faces of the nearest people with his shotgun raised.

Thane ran up to the edge of the coffin and looked inside at the motionless Quaero, Shepard said, "Thane, did you see who knocked the lid off?"

Thane looked up at her shocked, he pointed at Quaero's corpse, "He did."

The room was silent, everyone leaned in and stared at Quaero's body. Everybody realized that the beeping was coming from Quaero's corpse.

After several long minutes Garrus growled at Thane angrily, "Classy Krios, very classy."

Thane looked up at him and then back down at Quaero. He reached down and nudged him a little. Quaero moved as expected from the nudge but overall remained motionless. Everybody looked at Thane who looked around.

"I saw him push the lid off," Thane said seriously.

Shepard sighed, "EDI is Quaero alive?"

"_No life signs detected, Shepard,"_ EDI responded after a second.

"Tali, do you know why he's beeping?" Shepard said looking at Tali.

Tali shrugged and shook her head, "I have absolutely no idea, Shepard."

Thane frowned and leaned into the coffin, he placed his head on Quaero's chest and listened intently, he heard nothing. Thane pulled himself back and shook his head.

"I wish he was alive too Thane," Tali said miserably.

Thane shook his head again and his frown grew. He shut his eyes and lowered his face into his hand.

"Hallucinations. Common effect of traumatic events, coupled with deadly sickness will possibly cause hallucinations," Mordin said nodding his head.

"I didn't hallucinate," Thane said to Mordin, he paused for a second thinking, "Wait a minute…"

Thane typed into his omni-tool for a few moments. Quaero's omni-tool lit up.

The beeping turned changed from a consistent beeping to a constant drone. After a few seconds of listening to the hideous noise, a much higher pitched whine emanated from Quaero's corpse. The whine was silenced by a loud thump that was followed instantly by Quaero's corpse lurching into the air.

Everybody jumped in fright when his body lurched, but it returned to being motionless afterwards. The loud droning noise continued. Suddenly the whining returned followed by another loud thump. Quaero's body lurched again. This time however the droning noise ceased and was replaced by a much faster beeping.

Suddenly Quaero greedily inhaled air and arched his back.

Everybody gasped in shock and shout arose all around. Quaero coughed roughly and inhaled a few more times. He moaned in weakness and pain.

"Quaero!" Tali screamed pushing through the crowd and to his side. She reached inside the coffin and hugged him.

Quaero screamed in pain when Tali hugged him, Tali jumped back and said fearfully, "What's wrong what did I do?"

Quaero coughed roughly and clutched at his sides in pain, he said in between gasps and coughs, "Ah! I think most of my ribs are broken! And…"

Quaero paused and placed a hand on his chest he screamed in fear and pain and said, "AH! I only have one heart working!"

Shepard stepped forward with bewilderment written all over her face, "Quaero, you're alive! How are you alive?"

"On board medical stasis program," Quaero gasped, "It… stops all of my body's functions and keeps me… basically dead, while it fixes lethal injuries… It lasts a little over a day… I think I woke up a few times"

"Explains why EDI's scanners didn't detect life signs," Mordin said, "Very sophisticated tech. Nice work."

Quaero grunted in response and tried to sit up but writhed in agony again, he managed to choke out, "Ah! I still need medical attention! Did the Collectors take Chakwas?"

Shepard nodded solemnly, "Yes, she was taken. We heard that you tried to protect Gabby. That was very heroic of you."

Quaero looked up at Shepard, "I assume she was taken?"

Shepard nodded again, "They got everybody except Joker."

Quaero groaned and rolled around in the coffin a little more, "That's fantastic, Shepard. But I still need medical attention. At least some painkillers?"

"Oh! Right! Joker!" Shepard yelled, Joker limped over to her.

"Yes Commander?"

"Get us to the nearest medical facility that can support Quarians."

"The Citadel it is!" Joker said limping over to the elevator.

"Garrus do you have any medi-gel on you?" Shepard asked turning to him.

"A little," Garrus said stepping up to Quaero, "Here you go buddy."

Quaero gasped and sighed a little as the anesthetic took effect; he raised his arm and clapped his hand into Garrus's hand, "Thanks Garrus."

Garrus nodded and grabbed Quaero's wrist with his other hand. He slipped his hand out of Quaero's grip and he reached down and grabbed Tali's hand and placed it in Quaero's.

Shepard smiled and the group dispersed toward the elevator to give them some privacy, much to Miranda's displeasure. Everybody except for Grunt left Quaero's side.

"You could still get hurt," Grunt grumbled, he took a seat next to the coffin again with his shotgun readied, but looked away from the pair.

Tali held Quaero's hand tightly in both of hers, the bouquet had fallen to the ground forgotten. Tears of happiness streamed down her face. She couldn't find the words to express her relief that he was alive. She suddenly realized that his mask was breached.

"Quaero, your mask!" Tali said as she reached down and touched the long jagged crack in it.

Quaero still gasping for air said, "My over-mask will help."

Tali looked around inside the coffin and spotted his over-mask sitting near his foot. She picked it up and snapped it onto his helmet over his glass mask. She touched the thick scratch on the mask; she then noticed something else on his mask. She rubbed the lip of the mask with her finger and looked at it.

"Is this lipstick?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: I'm sure that everyone knew that he wasn't going to stay dead. Happy people? He's alive, yippee. Now quit bugging me, I think I have depressions because of you guys. Just kidding. But seriously, I think I might have depression because I can't sleep anymore… Well on the bright side I guess that means I have more time to work on this! Wow, an optimist with depression… IRONY! That's what this story needs!<strong>

**I was actually planning on keeping him dead far longer, like until the suicide mission, but then I was like, "Then how would he and Tali have a romance?" I mean they could I suppose but that would make Tali, basically a necrophile, which seems a little out of her character. Besides keeping him dead would probably make it really hard for me to think up stuff to write about.**

**Anyways, thanks for reviewing and reading! All the love makes me feel so good. Please review and give me your feedback on the chapter, I know it isn't very good, but be nice. Apparently I brought somebody to tears with my suspense… cool… You know who I'm talking about… **


	22. Chapter 22: The Calm Before the Storm

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Author's Note: Alright, I'll try and keep writing even though it's tough juggling this stuff with my school work. I have found a secret way though: Don't do my school work! XP**

**Nah just kidding, anyways the story will be wrapping up in a little while, literally in just a few chapters, so I just wanted to say Thanks to you my readers and reviewers, for keeping me going, it's been one hell of a ride if I do say so myself. **

**Anyways, here you go: the grand return of Quaero' Vega from the dead, and the calm before the storm…**

**Ch. 22: The Calm Before the Storm**

Quaero hopped off the clinic bed feeling like a million credits. His ribs were all in the right place thanks to some cybernetic implants, and his other heart was working again.

Apparently his stomach had been ruptured from the blast from the scion, but what can modern medicine not fix?

"Hey!" said a thick French Canadian accent, "Take it easy, you just had very complex surgery! You should be resting!"

Quaero dismissed her concern with a wave of his hand, "No stitches or cybernetic therapy for me! I'm more likely to die from that than from a reopened wound. Thanks for everything Dr. Michel."

"Chloe, please," Dr. Michel said as Quaero started to walk towards the door, "Oh and say 'hi' to Garrus for me!"

Quaero waved a hand in recognition before leaving the clinic. Shepard and most of the crew were out buying some last minute supplies for the mission. They had docked with the Normandy a few days ago, and most everybody was near Quaero the whole time. Tali especially, it took a lot of convincing for her to go with Shepard to sort some stuff about the shield generators on the Normandy.

Quaero sighed a little and started heading toward the marketplace, he had some things that he needed to buy.

* * *

><p><strong>On the Normandy, in Quaero's Room…<strong>

Quaero stepped out of his room closed his door. He opened it again and stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Once the door closed the lights turned off and a bright blue plane of light rotated around the room a few times. After about ten passes it finally shut off.

A friendly synthetic voice said from his omni-tool, _"Decontamination Complete, 0% foreign pathogens or microorganisms remaining."_

Quaero smiled at his handy work and sat down on his cot. He opened his book, Fleet and Flotilla: The Migrant Flame, and began reading. In truth he hated the book but he had nothing else to read, so whatever.

* * *

><p><strong>A Few Hours Later…<strong>

Quaero was asleep in a sitting position with his book lying open in his lap when the door opened suddenly and Tali stormed inside and didn't bother to close the door.

"_Clean environment compromised!"_ The VI on Quaero's omni-tool yelled.

"Quaero!" she yelled angrily.

Quaero jolted awake and looked around, he focused on Tali who was glaring at him with her hands on her hips, she said, "Why aren't you at the clinic? You're supposed to be resting!"

"I sort of was just now," Quaero said sarcastically.

"Don't joke around! You're still badly injured! Keelah, you should be taking it easy!"

"Sorry Tali, but I feel fine! And every second that we waste waiting for me to make a full recovery, that's another second that the crew has to suffer in. And it's already been too damn long."

Tali sighed and sat down on the cot next to him and wrapped her arm around his arm, she said comfortingly, "Quaero, you don't need to feel bad. It's not your fault that they got taken."

"But it is my fault, Tali. I wasn't strong enough to protect them."

"You did the best you could, Quaero."

"My best isn't good enough!" Quaero roared angrily as he shook his arm out of Tali's grasp and stood.

Quaero struck his wall angrily; he turned to Tali and raged, "Every time somebody's life gets put into my hands? Somebody dies! On the mission where my Krantt died, do you know who made the decision to go on that mission? Me! Maise didn't want to go, but I convinced him! It's my fault that him, Utopian and Goliath are dead! Oh and can't forget about Navis! The one day I am not at camp to lead the defenses, the entire place is burned to the ground and all of my comrades are slain! Not quickly either, Cacete's gang would remove their masks and force them to breathe the polluted air! Now this! Everybody on the Normandy is taken and I can't even protect one!" Quaero punched the wall again for emphasis, "Damn!" He struck the wall again, this time much harder, "Person!"

He hit the wall a final time, the panel fell off the wall and onto the floor, revealing the wiring underneath. Tali stood and walked over to him. She stood in front of him and hugged him tightly.

Quaero panted and kept his fists clenched but didn't scream or strike the wall anymore.

"It's not your fault, Quaero, it was never your fault. The first two times, it was Cacete. Now it was the Collectors. We'll get them back, Quaero. Don't worry."

"I need to be stronger, Tali. I can't lose you too."

Tali pressed herself up against Quaero a little harder, trying to reassure him, "I'm not going anywhere."

Quaero exhaled the remainder of his rage out through his nose. He returned the hug that Tali gave him.

Suddenly a voice was heard from the open doorway.

"Oh!" Shepard said, while blushing a little, "Sorry, I'll come back later."

Tali stepped away from Quaero, "No Shepard I was just leaving."

Tali walked past Shepard and looked back at Quaero one last time before heading up the stairs. Shepard stepped inside and closed the door. She jumped when the lights shut off and the blue plane of light rotated around the room. She stared at it in surprise.

"_Decontamination Complete, 0% foreign pathogens or microorganisms remaining," _Quaero's omni-tool VI said after the blue plane disappeared.

"You installed a decontamination unit in your room?" Shepard said as she walked over to Quaero's desk chair.

"Sure did, I bought it on the Citadel, it was damn expensive," Quaero said as he tried to reattach the wall panel to the wall.

"What's it for?" Shepard said grimacing as Quaero tried to muscle the panel into the wall.

"Hm? Oh, it's so Tali and I can be together without fear of an infection from the air or something."

"Oh really?" Shepard said with a mischievous smile, "Sounds like fun."

Quaero shrugged and jammed the panel into the wall. He walked over and sat down on his cot.

"Could we maybe change the subject Shepard?" Quaero said anxiously, "I'm a little uncomfortable. Why did you come down here?"

"I wanted to talk a little," Shepard said as seriously as she could.

"I suppose, what about?" Quaero asked leaning back on his cot.

"Wanted to see how you were holding up, we're headed for the Omega 4 Relay now."

"I'm alright Shepard, honestly I'm not worried at all."

"Really?"

"Yes. I feel like everything is going to go right for some reason. Just a feeling."

"I wish I had that optimism. We have a few days before we hit the Omega 4 Relay, so is there anything that you think we can use to fight the Collectors?"

Quaero thought for a moment, "Well… there is some stuff that I developed on Navis and uploaded onto Sensus's data chip. They're armor modifications that'll boost the force of my biotics and will provide more protection and stronger shields. You'll have to let him download it to EDI's databanks through FTL, want me to ask him?"

"Sure, do it. EDI open up the FTL firewalls for Sensus."

"_Very well, Shepard,"_ EDI responded.

Quaero stood and pulled the Sensus out of his cube, the eye appeared and blinked a few times, _"Ah my favorite two people."_

"Sensus, I need you to download those armor mods onto the Normandy."

"_Alright, but… Oh, I see you opened the FTL channels already… I see…"_

Quaero rolled his eyes and walked back over to his cot after Sensus's eye disappeared.

"Anything else you wanted to talk about, Shepard?"

"Yeah I wanted to talk about you."

"Me? Alright what did you want to know?"

"I wanted to know more about the genetic modification that you underwent and the project and your childhood."

"I suppose that would be alright. Where should I start?"

"How about the project. What was it called? What was its goal?"

"The project was called Project: Deus Texit, as you know it was headed by Admiral Daro' Xen. The goal of the project was to make a stronger Quarian with a stronger immune system. I was the first successful child born. All the others had been stillborn because of the Element Zero exposure. At first the experiment was deemed a failure, because my immune system was just as weak as a normal Quarian's. But once my immune system showed signs of better adaptation, the project was refunded and they performed more tests."

"What kind of tests?" Shepard said a little cautiously.

"Well, they would have suited Quarians walk in and out of my clean room without any decontamination, they would introduce certain species of common bacteria into my system, a few times they broke my limbs and let them get infected, and once the actually took me to a planet surface and locked me outside the shuttle without a suit for an hour."

"Oh God!" Shepard exclaimed in horror and shock, "That's terrible!"

"I got so close to death so many times," Quaero said distantly, "I was sick almost constantly for the first five years of my life. Well you know the rest, project was cancelled, and I was almost voted to be executed, then released onto the Rayya to fend for myself…"

Shepard nodded and tried to hurry him away from his sad early childhood, "Okay why don't you tell me how you survived for three years alone on the Rayya."

"Oh, well that was a long chapter of my life. Well I would sleep in a ventilation duct in the lower levels of Engineering because it was warmest there. For food I would often try and trade something I found for it, but it was mostly trash and most people weren't about to trade their ration for trash. Sometimes that played out and I got something to eat and that was maybe once or twice a week. I was barely clinging on to life basically down there. Even through the hardest days I never stole, I felt it was an offense to the Fleet itself. I collected water from the condensation that dripped off the inside of the ventilation duct so I thankfully had plenty of that. It wasn't completely clean but my suit had a drinking filter. Whenever I would get a suit puncture, which was quite often because I got a very old suit, I would patch it was a piece of metal, or I would try and just glue up the hole with an industrial solvent that was easy to find down there. I got sick pretty often but it wasn't as often as before. Many days, sometimes even late in the night, other kids would sneak down to my ventilation duct and throw things at me or hit me. Once an engineer caught them and cheered them on, saying 'Yeah get that bosh'tet piece of shit out of my ducts! Yeah hurt that freak kids!'"

"Stop! Please, stop!" Shepard cringed at all this sadness, her childhood as a spacer was a cakewalk compared to this stuff, "Just stop! Why don't you… you know hate the Admirals more or something?"

"I don't hate all of them, not Gerrel. Xen, I don't exactly hate her either, I just don't really like her. The others were alright too I suppose. No I don't hate them, the things they did to me made me who I am today."

Shepard shook her head in disbelief, "I think I'm gonna go Quaero. It was nice talking to you."

"Shepard."

Shepard left the room and Quaero's VI exclaimed as she left, _"Clean environment compromised!"_

"_Bye Shepard!"_ Sensus called after her. Quaero walked over and shoved him back into his cube.

* * *

><p><strong>The Next Day…<strong>

Quaero walked away from the table where Garrus sat, still with a smile on his face from their conversation. They had been talking about that recent Human film Halo that had just been released. Apparently it had been delayed for 200 years, which is the silliest thing Quaero had ever heard.

Quaero walked past Miranda's office and turned toward the elevator. He heard the door open behind him then felt his feet float off the floor. He looked down at himself and noticed he glowed with a biotic attack. Suddenly he flew backwards into Miranda's office and crashed into the wall above her bed.

He landed on his back on top of the bed and barely had enough time to sit up before Miranda pounced on top of him.

"What the—What the hell are you doing?" Quaero yelled at Miranda who straddled him.

"Quaero! I love you! I need you now before we run out of time!" Miranda exclaimed longingly as she reached to her chest and unzipped her uniform and exposed her breasts clad in a black silk bra.

"Miranda! What the fuck!" Quaero exclaimed in horror.

"Kiss me, Quaero!" Miranda said leaning forward and kissing his over-mask.

Quaero just looked at her in confusion and a little bit of fear, "Miranda what's wrong with you?"

"There's nothing wrong with me!" Miranda exclaimed, "I've never wanted anything more in my life!"

"Okay," Quaero said rolling Miranda off of himself and sitting up, "Listen, you don't know how flattered that I am that you're doing this, but I'm in love with Tali."

"Oh forget about her!" Miranda said coyly, "Let's just forget about everything right now, let's just live."

Miranda advanced again, but Quaero backed up off the bed and into the wall, "Seriously Miranda, I know that you think you love me, but it's just an infatuation, I'm sure that if you slept with… Garrus or something that these feelings for me will go away."

Miranda advanced again, but this time Quaero had nowhere to escape. She pressed herself up against him and stroked the side of his head, "Please Quaero. I need this, and you need this."

"I don't need this, I have Tali," Quaero said firmly.

"You don't need Tali when you can have me!" Miranda said seductively.

"Keelah! Just stop Miranda! I'm not going to let you do this to me and potentially ruin my relationship with Tali! Now I suggest that I leave and you don't follow, or try and pull me back in here with biotics."

Miranda lost her lusty face and took on a scowl, she grabbed Quaero by the arm and judo flipped him onto the floor. She straddled him again and grabbed the sides of his head.

"We're doing this whether you like it or not!" Miranda screamed at him.

"Like hell you are!" Quaero roared back.

He grabbed her stomach and used his biotics to propel her into the air. She screamed on the way up but grunted when she made contact with the ceiling. Quaero kept her there, stuck on the ceiling while he edged out of the room.

Once outside he said to the air, "EDI, could you lock XO Lawson's quarters and let only Shepard have access, please?"

A short silence followed, then EDI responded, _"At once Crewman Vega."_

"Thank you and could you tell Shepard to come down here and have a little chat with Miranda about boundaries please?"

"_At once."_

Quaero lowered his arm and heard a thump sound inside Miranda's room, quickly followed by a banging on the door and loud screams.

Quaero ignored them and walked quickly into the elevator.

* * *

><p><strong>In Engineering…<strong>

Quaero sat in his room staring at his hands in disgust. He jumped as the door opened and Tali stepped inside.

"_Clean environment compromised!"_ Quaero's VI protested.

"Seems like you're pretty popular around here," Tali said with a little humor in her voice, much to Quaero's relief.

"I'll say…"

"Glad you picked me," Tali said with a giggle.

"I'll have you know that I had quite a selection too," Quaero said shaking his head, "Kelly, Miranda, Gabby, Jack maybe, and even Shepard."

Tali was about to get mad but gaped at him, "Gabby and Shepard? They made passes at you too?"

Quaero nodded slowly, "Yep, Shepard did after my altercation with Legion and Gabby tried before she was taken, it was her lipstick on my mask."

"I thought you said that was blood!"

"I was afraid you'd be mad at me."

"…No, I'm not mad at you… I'm mad at Gabby and Shepard… and Kelly and Miranda!"

Quaero laughed and patted the spot next to him on his cot. Tali closed the door and moved to sit with him, but jumped when the decontamination cycle started. Once it had ended and the lights came back on she took a seat next to Quaero.

"_Decontamination Complete, 0% foreign pathogens or microorganisms remaining,"_ said Quaero's VI.

"Decontamination?" Tali said in confusion looking around the room.

"Yeah I got a decontamination unit for the room when I was on the Citadel," Quaero mumbled, "I figured it could eliminate the environment variable from the many ways that we can get sick."

"Wow…" Tali said a little emotionally, much to Quaero's surprise, "You did this for me… this is so nice…"

"Uh…" Quaero couldn't gauge her reaction, nor find the words to use in the situation.

"Thank you, Quaero. I love you so much," Tali said leaning over and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I love you too," Quaero said, now sure of what to say, "I'd do anything for you Tali."

Shepard's voice came in over the intercom, _"Quaero' Vega please report to the Armory, your armor upgrades are complete. Quaero' Vega report to the Armory, your armor is complete."_

Quaero stood and helped Tali to her feet, "Sorry to cut this short but I have to go see Shepard, I'll see you later Tali."

"Yeah… See you…" Tali said a little absently, clearly deep in thought.

Quaero left the room, much to the displeasure of his omni-tool's VI, who yelled at him that his clean environment was compromised.

Tali remained standing where Quaero had left her, thinking. She quickly turned and walked straight into her room. She walked over to her desk and opened the drawer and pulled out a bottle of extra power anti-biotics, a bottle of immuno-booster vaccine, an auto-injector, and a bottle of herbs. She set the items on her desk and sat down in her chair waiting anxiously.

* * *

><p><strong>Early the Next Day…<strong>

Quaero opened his locker and admired the new armor that sat inside, it was far stronger and looked the part too. It also had vertical white stripes down the middle of the armor pieces. His over-mask sat on the nightstand next to his bed. Quaero turned and picked up the data-pad that had the full list of the mods and the new features of his armor.

He heard his door open and somebody step inside.

"_Clean environment compromised!"_ Quaero's VI protested.

Quaero closed his locker doors and was pleased to see Tali standing in the doorway. She was standing very straight with her feet together and was staring down at her hands that were folded together in front of her.

Quaero frowned and Tali took a timid forward and closed the door. The decontamination cycle began and the lights shut off. The only light in the room now was the plane of blue light that swung around the room, the data-pad in Quaero's hand and the eyes of each Quarian as they stared at each other.

Tali approached Quaero slowly, timidly but determined, the plane of light illuminated her lithe form every few seconds, and she spoke as she approached him, "I took some immuno-boosters, antibiotics and some herbal supplements. They should temporarily improve my immune system."

Tali was now only about a foot away from Quaero.

"I would've brought music," Tali took the data pad out of Quaero's limp hands and placed it on the desk behind him, "But I didn't know what you like. And I'm babbling like an idiot…"

The lights returned to normal and Quaero's omni-tool lit up, _"Decontamination Complete, 0% foreign pathogens or microorganisms remaining."_

"Tali, it's okay," Quaero said gently placing his hands on Tali's upper arms and pulling her a little closer, "If you don't want to…"

"No… I-I just don't want to… I want this to work. I've… We've minimized the risk. But I'm still nervous."

Tali grabbed Quaero's hand and led him over to his cot. The sat down next to each other at the end of it. Tali looked down at her lap nervously.

"And that always makes me talk too much. It's a defense mechanism, and it's stupid, and…"

Quaero tilted his head slowly and reached up and placed a hand on the side of her head, she leaned her head into it but kept talking, "People who… who just see the helmet can't see my expression, so I have to make it clear… what I'm…"

Quaero took Tali's hand with his free one and placed it on the side of his head. Quaero waited, Tali reached up with her other hand and removed Quaero's glass mask. She dropped it onto the floor and gazed at his face with wide eyes, she reached up and ran a hand down his nose, his sharp cheek bone, then down to his lips.

Tali took her hand off of his face and picked up his free hand and placed it onto the other side of her head. Quaero pressed the release seals on her mask and slowly pulled it off and dropped it onto the floor next to his.

Tali was nervous, nobody had ever seen her face before, would he hate it? She waited and watched Quaero for what felt like an eternity as he gazed at her face with an analytical and neutral expression.

She felt like his acceptance was just about to fall down the drain, and she felt a tear roll down her face. Then he slowly reached up with one hand and gently touched her cheek inside of her helmet and wiped her tear away with his thumb. His expression slowly grew into a smile, a beautiful smile.

Tali couldn't hold herself back anymore, she grasped both sides of his head and leapt on top of him, and experienced her first kiss.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Aw, how sweet. That's nice, how'd you guys like the sweet tender romance that I'll leave to the imagination as planned? Sorry no explicit material here, if you read up until now just because it was an M rating then I apologize for wasting your "precious" time. I'll change it to a T rating so that there won't be any horny readers coming into my story out of confusion.<strong>

**Sorry to all of you who were waiting for the big old detailed sex scene, I'm a modest guy and I like to keep certain things to the imagination. So feel free to fill in the blanks in your own head, but please God don't leave a review describing what you think happened. **

**To all of my male readers is the apology above directed to. To all my female readers, I'm sure most of you agree with my decision but if some of you were looking for some hot action, then maybe give me a call. ;D**

**To all of you who are curious after reading this A/N: I am a male human being, not some monkey or koala bear or something as impressive as that would be. And I am very straight. No wiggle room here… wait… XD**

**Please Read and Review, tell me how much you loved reading about tender romance and about how Miranda is a crazy shrew. If any of you disagree with my vision of Miranda being a little psycho, then please don't hide your feelings. Vent in the form of a review or PM me you thoughts. I don't know why but I always saw Miranda as the first person who would go totally fucking nuts… but that's just me… sorry all you Mirandamancers who the apology above is probably directed at.**


	23. Chapter 23: Omega Four

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Ch. 23: Omega Four to the Center of the Galaxy**

Quaero jolted awake to the sound of Shepard's voice.

"_Team. Here we go, we'll be entering the Omega Four in a few minutes, from there it'll be three hours until we hit the Collector Homeworld. I just wanted to say that I'm incredibly proud of all of you and don't worry. We'll get our crew back and we'll stop the Collectors! Shepard out."_

Quaero tried to sit up but something was off. His vision wasn't dulled by a dark film, his And cold air kissed his skin… along with something else? Quaero looked down and saw an unsuited Tali laying gentle kisses onto his belly.

Quaero smiled and stopped trying to sit up. He remembered what had occurred the previous night and damn what a night that was. Tali crawled up to Quaero's face and kissed him long and passionately on the lips. Quaero felt Tali's very soft and smooth skin against his. This was his favorite sensation of being out of his suit. Tali said hers was kissing but Quaero disagreed.

Tali sighed and rested her head on his chest, she moaned softly and purred in a gentle voice, "I love the sound of your heartbeat."

Quaero chuckled a little and glided his hands over her back and savored the feel.

He heard Tali sniffle and looked up at her concerned, "Tali are you feeling okay? Are you getting sick?"

"No, I'm fine," Tali responded her voice sounding a little nasally.

"Tali you should put your suit back on."

"No, I don't want to!"

"I don't want to either, but I don't want to see you get sick either!"

Tali sighed sadly and sat up. She covered herself with her hands out of modesty. Quaero didn't have any sheets on his cot because he didn't need them.

"Please Tali," Quaero said sitting up and holding Tali, "Put your suit back on. Don't worry I won't watch."

Tali giggled a little and sighed. She nodded and stood and gathered the pieces of her suit off of the floor.

* * *

><p><strong>25 Minutes Later…<strong>

Tali pulled her hood over her helmet and looked over at Quaero for a long time, holding her mask in her hands. She leaned forward and gave him a long kiss, relishing in the feel of his lips against hers.

Without any warning Tali pulled herself away and quickly reattached her mask to her helmet. Once on Tali sighed loudly and looked over at Quaero who still sat on the cot without his suit on.

"Shouldn't you get your suit back on?" Tali asked a little annoyed.

Quaero mocked an expression of deep consideration, "Hm… I suppose so."

Quaero stood and picked up his suit pieces and began replacing them on his body while Tali watched.

He looked over his shoulder at Tali, "Hey I didn't watch for you!"

Tali blushed and looked away. Quaero walked up to her with his suit pulled up around his waist and gave her a long hug. She smiled at his comforting embrace. He pulled away before too long and quickly put his suit back on in about half the time it took Tali.

Once done, Quaero walked over to his locker and started pulling the pieces of his armor out of it.

He said as he worked, "You should go get ready. We'll be getting to the Collector homeworld pretty soon."

Tali looked down at her omni-tool, "We have 2 hours."

Quaero shrugged and started attaching the pieces of armor to his body, "That's a not a lot of time to get ready then."

"Really?"

"Sure, I have to talk to everybody before then, see how they're holding up, except maybe Miranda."

Tali giggled, "Isn't that kind of Shepard's territory?"

"Hey camaraderie is very important to me," Quaero said straitening himself and attaching his armor to his chest, "I don't want to be out there in the field and worry about a miscommunication or something."

"Whatever," Tali said walking toward the door, "I'll see you later then Quaero."

"Bye, Tali," Quaero said attaching the tiny pieces of armor onto his fingers.

Later…

Quaero stepped out of his room in his new armor, and headed toward Jack who was stabbing an invisible enemy with a combat knife.

"Hey Qua… Wow," Jack said looking surprised at Quaero's appearance, "Nice armor man. You look huge. I bet a Krogan wouldn't try and fight you. That could be helpful if you ever want to mug somebody on Tuchanka."

Quaero laughed a little and said, "You ready for the mission Jack?"

Jack flipped the knife in her hand and caught it by the tip of its blade. She threw it into a wall where it stuck halfway in.

Jack looked at Quaero with a firm and determined expression, "That answer your question?"

"Sure," Quaero said rolling his eyes and turning to walk away.

Quaero walked into the Port Cargo Bay where Grunt stood in the center of the room looking rather anxious.

"Grunt," Quaero said walking inside.

"Vega," Grunt mumbled, "Nice armor, you look like a real warrior."

"What about before?"

"More now."

"Ready for a rematch?"

"FINALLY!"

* * *

><p><strong>15 Minutes Later…<strong>

Quaero stepped out of the Starboard Cargo bay rather proud of himself. Grunt was raging inside. This time Quaero had won. Of course he cheated using the Strength Boost frame wire in his armor, but Grunt didn't need to know that.

Quaero stepped inside the elevator and began the arduously slow sojourn to the next deck.

* * *

><p><strong>On the Crew Deck, in the Forward Battery…<strong>

Garrus sat on the box across from the large terminal screen watching the Turian remake of an old and very famous human film called Titanic.

"_I'm Maiden of the galaxy!"_ Rosaliana cried as Jackkatis held up on the edge of the Titan starship.

Garrus heard footsteps approaching and quickly shut of the film. He hid his can of Topari behind the crate and jumped in front of the main control terminal. He heard the door open behind him.

"Hey Shepard, I was just doing some…"

Garrus stopped himself as he turned around and saw it was Quaero, "Oh hi Quaero. I thought you were Shepard."

"Nope," Quaero said laughing a little, "What you watching today Garrus?'

"Oh it's a film called Titan, it's actually kind of good."

"Right, well I just wanted to see how you were holding up before we hit the Collector base."

"Alright, I mean I was pretty nervous but…"

Quaero tilted his head to the side, "But?"

"… Uh, Shepard helped…"

"Wait… You and…?"

Garrus nodded a little reluctantly, clearly nervous about Quaero's response. Quaero remained silent for a moment before chuckling slightly, then progressing into a full blown laugh.

After he had calmed himself down he said, "Nice, Garrus. I didn't think you had it in you."

Garrus looked up at him shocked, "You mean you aren't surprised?"

"Not at all. I'm surprised it took you so long."

"Shut up!" Garrus said annoyed.

"Alright I was just leaving anyways," Quaero said as he turned and headed back down the hallway, he called over his shoulder, "Happy for you!"

Garrus sat back down on the crate and heard a second deep and synthetic voice call to him too, _"Was Shepard impressed by your reach and flexibility?"_

Garrus's eyes widened and he looked after Quaero who hurried away toward the Life Support room.

Quaero stepped into the Life Support room, mumbling under his breath at Sensus who was giggling, "I told you to keep quiet! That was the condition of you coming with me!"

"_Alright sorry. I'll behave to the best of my infinite abilities."_

"That's what worries me," Quaero said as he walked up to the table Thane sat at.

After a short silence Thane said, "Quaero, what can I do for you?"

"Just wanted to chat."

Thane straightened himself and motioned to the chair in front of him. Quaero walked up and sat in it. The chair sank a little under his weight.

"I was just wondering how you were doing now that we're about to hit the Collectors."

"I've been waiting for this for a long time. I've meditated quite a bit about this subject and I feel no anxiety or worry about this. If we live, or if we die, Shepard will complete the mission and I will have atoned for my sins."

"Most won't be able to share your optimism I fear," Quaero said rationally.

"I agree, but that won't make a difference in the long run. What we feel does not matter. Our actions are what will determine what becomes of this galaxy."

Quaero thought for a moment before standing and extending a hand to Thane, "It's been nice talking to you, Thane."

Thane looked at Quaero's hand then up to Quaero, he took Quaero's hand gently but didn't shake it. Thane then returned to his usual position with his elbows up of the table.

Quaero turned and walked out of the Life Support room and toward the Starboard Observation room.

"_What an odd person,"_ Sensus commented as they walked.

"He's not odd, just… bizarre."

"_Yeah, that's not any worse…"_

"Just drop it and be quiet," Quaero said as he opened the door to the Starboard Observation.

Quaero stepped inside and sat down next to Samara cross legged. He looked over at her for a second, before looking out at the bright blue light of the Normandy as it traveled through the Omega Four in FTL.

"It's odd isn't it?" Quaero said really to nobody in particular.

Samara's biotic glow disappeared. She looked at Quaero and waited for him to continue.

"We're going, possibly to our deaths, and it's for the greater good? How can we save the galaxy if nobody will remember us if we die? We'll probably stop the Collectors, even if we all die, but what will happen after? The Reapers will come, and nobody will be ready for them, except maybe the geth. Is that odd? No, maybe just star-crossed."

Samara smiled and looked away from him. Her biotic aura returned and she remained silent.

Quaero stood and looked down at Samara, "Thanks for listening."

"Anytime, Quaero," Samara responded.

Quaero walked out of the Starboard Observation room and headed into the elevator.

As the elevator traveled up, Sensus said, _"Nah, I take it back. Compared to her, Thane is as normal as an Elcor."_

Quaero threw his arms up into the air, "What the hell does that even mean? I thought I told you to be quiet!"

"Okay, okay. Sorry."

The doors opened into on the CIC. Quaero stepped out and walked into the armory.

"Jacob!" Quaero called from across the room.

Jacob glanced over his shoulder at Quaero, "Hey."

"Got my guns ready?"

"On the table."

Quaero walked over to the table behind Jacob, where his guns sat. They were fully modified with damage upgrades, thermal heat sinks, combat sensors, and improved mass accelerators and rail drivers.

Quaero picked up his Revenant which was now noticeably heavier from the mods. He noticed there was a front grip and a bipod on it now too. He placed it onto his back and picked up his Scimitar and placed that onto his back.

"Thanks Jacob," Quaero said as he picked up thermal clips and attached them to his belt.

"No problem. It's the least I can do I guess."

"What do you mean."

"Got you killed last time remember?"

"That wasn't your fault… just you know… part of it."

Jacob chuckled and turned around, "Hey man, heard about you and Tali. Finally happened huh?"

"What do you mean you heard? From who?"

"Shepard."

"How does she know that only happened last night?"

"There are surveillance cameras in all the rooms on the Normandy you know, and Shepard can access them from her terminal."

"W-What?"

"Yeah, she invited us all to come and watch. Nice work man."

"W-What the? What the fuck man! I'm going to have a talk with Shepard!"

"Alright, see you Quaero," Jacob said with a wry smile on his face.

In the Captain's Quarters…

Shepard sat at her desk, eating a cupcake, when the door opened and Quaero entered.

"Oh hi Quaero," Shepard said licking frosting off her lips, "What are you—"

"What the fuck Shepard!" Quaero yelled at her angrily.

Shepard looked at him shocked and confused, she put her cupcake down on her desk and said, "What are you screaming about?"

"You watched me and Tali have sex? And invited everybody to watch? What the fuck is the matter with you? You sick asshole!"

"I… I didn't do that…" Shepard said very confused, "You and Tali had sex?"

"Yeah it was nice, but you would know that wouldn't you? Jacob said that—"

"Jacob…" Shepard groaned and rested her head in her hand.

"Yeah Jacob… he lied didn't he?"

Shepard nodded.

"Oh… I'm uh…" Quaero began, he turned and left the room.

Shepard smiled and returned to her attention to her cupcake.

A Few Hours Later, in the Shuttle Hanger…

Quaero was making a few last mods to Kodiak when Shepard's voice came in over the intercom.

"Crew we're hitting the Collector Homeworld in 2 minutes! Be ready, and everybody to your stations!"

Quaero finished calibrating the mod, and turned to leave the Kodiak and run to his station. Suddenly he realized that he didn't really have a station, since Miranda never actually assigned him a duty.

Quaero shrugged and stepped out of the Kodiak. Suddenly the Normandy shook slightly as it came out of FTL then it lurched as it turned quickly. Quaero lost his balance and fell to the ground. Objects slid around the room, including the Kodiak which wasn't in its docking cradle yet.

The Kodiak slid quickly toward Quaero. He saw it coming and spun himself around as it slid towards him, catching it on his feet. The shuttle kept sliding and pushing Quaero along towards a wall.

"Uh oh," Quaero said to himself as the wall quickly approached.

The gravity suddenly changed again as the Normandy suddenly changed direction again. The shuttle began to slide in the other direction just before it smashed Quaero against the wall. The gravity finally normalized again just as the shuttle came to the center of the room.

Quaero stood and started to rush toward the elevator but an explosion from the wall to his left caused him to be thrown off of his feet. Quaero rolled on his back to face the source of the explosion. A massive spikey looking orb, like a cross between the Collector ship and Sensus's mobile platform, flew into the Shuttle Hanger.

Air and debris began to get sucked out of the hole in the Normandy's hull into the vacuum outside. Quaero started sliding towards it but managed to catch himself on a large and heavy storage container. He held himself there long enough for a kinetic barrier to kick in and stop the breach.

Quaero rolled behind the container just as the large robot spotted him and fired a red high intensity laser at him. He leaned out of his cover and fired at the robot with his Revenant. He saw that the projectiles sparked off of its strong armor.

Quaero leaned back into his cover as another powerful beam struck the ground near him and programmed the armor-piercing ammo into his Revenant.

He blind fired around the container in the general direction of the robot. Suddenly the robot appeared over his cover and looked at him with its large red eye that was glowing brighter and brighter.

Quaero reacted quickly and launched a biotic warp at the robot whilst simultaneously sprinting away performing a run and gun tactic with his Revenant. The powerful warp attack tore some of the robot's armor away and threw its aim off slightly, the following spray of heavy armor-piercing rounds caused it to abandon its former attack plan and perform evasive maneuvers.

Quaero rolled behind a large ventilation duct near the elevator door and fired the rest of this thermal clips worth of bullets into the robot's armor.

The elevator door opened just as Quaero leaned back into cover. He saw Shepard, Legion and Garrus run into the room. Quaero used his biotics to pull them towards him just as the robot used its laser weapon to fire at their former position.

The squad crashed into the ventilation duct near Quaero a little hard. They quickly recovered however and began to return fire at the robot.

"I don't know whether to thank you or punch you for that!" Garrus yelled over the noise of battle.

"What is that thing, Shepard?" Quaero yelled, ignoring Garrus, "Are we out of the Omega Four Relay?"

"Yeah!" Shepard responded, "That's an Oculus! The space to the Collector base is filled with them! They're like sentries I guess!"

"How do you know it's called an Oculus?" Quaero yelled.

"I just know! Okay?"

Quaero shrugged and leaned out of his cover again and fired a few shots into the Oculus. It was now badly damaged but still fully functional. It flew around quickly, making it hard to get an accurate shot on it and it periodically fired long laser attacks on the ventilation duct.

"Quaero!" Shepard yelled after he dropped down to eject his thermal clip, "Slow it down!"

Quaero nodded and rose up out of cover. He used a powerful biotic warp to tear more armor from the oculus. The attack threw it off its evasive tactic, causing it to spin around out of control for a few seconds. The rest of the squad wasted no time in unleashing a torrent of assault rifle fire upon it. This momentary attack was just enough to take it out of commission. The oculus fell to the ground seconds after it regained control of its flight and exploded violently.

Shepard turned and jogged back toward the elevator without delay, she said as she jogged, "Back to the CIC! Everybody, double time it!"

Suddenly another explosion rocked the room, the squad turned around with their weapons raised as another oculus flew in.

"Aw! Fuck this!" Shepard growled as she withdrew her Cain from her back, "Heads down! Quaero keep it still!"

Quaero mustered all of his strength and adrenaline into using his biotics to hold the oculus in one place as Shepard charged the Cain. The Cain finally fired and hit the oculus, sending a massive concussion wave that knocked the only person still standing, Quaero, onto his ass.

Garrus helped Quaero to his feet and supported him, with considerable difficulty, as Shepard replaced the Cain on her back.

"Let's hope that's the last of em!" Shepard said signaling the squad to move to the elevator.

The squad ran into the elevator and checked their weapons as it ascended to the CIC.

* * *

><p><strong>On the CIC…<strong>

The squad ran into the cockpit of the Normandy, where Miranda was standing next to Joker's chair. Joker looked surprisingly focused as he cleared the debris field and the oculus.

"Nice flying Joker," Quaero said as he reached the cockpit.

"Thanks," he mumbled absently.

"There it is," Miranda said a little melodramatically, "The Collector Base."

"Joker, see if you can a place to land without drawing attention," Shepard said as she stared out at the base

"Too late! Looks like they're sending out an old friend to meet us!"

The squad looked out the cockpit window at the absolutely massive Collector home base where the familiar Collector ship flew out to intercept them.

"Joker! Evasive maneuvers!" Shepard yelled as the front of the Collector ship began to light up.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Joker responded as he narrowly avoided the initial attack from the powerful Collector particle beam cannon. The beam swung toward the Normandy, but Joker expertly avoided it. The beam hit then hit the Normandy as it suddenly swung across the front before Joker could react. Thankfully the new upgraded shields were powerful enough to withstand the blast.

"Time to show our new teeth! Fire the main gun, Joker!" Shepard commanded as the Collector ship attempted to regain its aim from the previous failed attack.

"Aw hell yes!" Joker said as he flipped a switch with a glowing blue light on it.

"_Charging Thanix Cannon!"_ EDI said as a quiet hum sounded in the ship.

"Get em baby!" Garrus roared happily.

Suddenly a bright blue beam flew out of the end of the Normandy, temporarily blinding the onlookers. The beam travelled slowly toward the Collector ship but completely pierced it when it connected. A massive explosion erupted from the entry and exit areas of where the shot connected. The Collector ship jerked and its particle beam cannon shut off.

"Yeah! How do you like that, sons-of-bitches?" Joker exclaimed gesturing at the ship.

"Alright now finish them off Joker!" Shepard roared in excitement.

Another blast from the Thanix Cannon erupted from the end of the Normandy, this one almost at point blank range. The shot connected and completely obliterated the Collector ship in a massive explosion. The Normandy flew past the explosion and the concussion wave shook the ship violently.

The Normandy's systems failed and it flew straight toward the Collector Home base.

"Mass Accelerators are offline! EDI give me something!" Joker yelled in panic as the ship careened off course.

"Generators unresponsive. All hands brace for impact!" EDI warned as the surface of the Collector base approached quickly.

The ship collided with the Collector base so violently that it cause Shepard to get lifted off her feet and hit the ceiling, Garrus to flip into a wall, Legion to stumble a little bit, Miranda to flip over a terminal and into the cockpit window, Joker to smack his face on his control panel, and Quaero to fly forward toward the front of the cockpit and hit his head on a low-hanging control panel.

Shepard stood first, "Everyone all right?"

Joker moaned, "I think I broke a rib. Or all of them! And… Gah! My nose is broken!"

Miranda clambered up back into the cockpit, along with Quaero who staggered a little on his feet. Garrus slowly picked himself up last coughing a little.

"Multiple core systems were overloaded during the crash. Restoring operations will take some time," EDI said after the crew had picked themselves up off the floor.

Miranda sighed, "We all knew this was likely a one-way trip."

Shepard smirked, "I'll do whatever I can to stop the Collectors, but I plan to live to tell about it."

Joker sighed and typed into his controls, "Huh, glad you're in charge. What's next?"

Shepard crossed her arms, "Joker, you and EDI get the ship back online. Miranda, gather everyone else in the Briefing Room. We need a plan."

* * *

><p><strong>In the Briefing Room…<strong>

Shepard's team stood around the table in the Briefing Room, fully armed and ready for battle.

Shepard walked slowly toward the head of the table, "Once we're in they're going to throw everything they got at us. If we're weak, if we're slow, if we hesitate, we'll die."

Shepard banged a fist on the table for emphasis, "The Collectors attacked our ship. They took out crew, our friends. They think we're helpless. They're wrong! They started a war but we're not here to finish it. We're here to make them regret—to show them and everyone else what happens when we go too far!"

The various crewmembers around the table fidgeted with anticipation and building adrenaline: Jacob cracked his knuckles, Jack raised a fist and glowed with biotics, Grunt growled and rammed his fist into his palm, Mordin smiled and checked his pistol's sights, Garrus adjusted the zoom on his eye piece, Tali placed her combat drone on the table, Samara made a short burst of a biotic aura, Thane started a silent prayer, Miranda crossed her arms, Quaero checked the thermal clip in his Revenant, and Legion just stood there.

Shepard finished, "No more running, and no more waiting. Let's hit them where they live."

"EDI bring up your scans."

A bright hologram of the Collector base appeared over the table, the vital areas of the base highlighted in blue.

A room pinged on the hologram and EDI explained, "You should be able to overload their systems if you get to the main control center, here."

Jacob typed into his omni-tool as he talked, "That means that we'll have to go through the heart of the station. Right past this massive energy signature."

"That's the central chamber," Shepard chimed in, "If our crew or any of the Colonists survived, the Collectors are probably holding them there."

Jacob pinged two separate pathways leading to the central chamber with his omni-tool, "Looks like there are two main routes. Might be a good idea to split up and keep the Collectors off balance, then regroup in the central chamber."

Miranda said, "No good, they're both blocked. See those doors? The only way past them is for someone to open them from the other side."

Shepard pinged a small winding ventilation shaft near one path that leads behind the doors with her omni-tool, "If we send a team down each path, they can keep the Collectors busy while someone sneaks through this ventilation shaft."

Jacob leaned back and crossed his arms, "Practically a suicide mission. I volunteer."

Miranda scowled and said, "I appreciate the thought, Jacob, but you wouldn't be able to shut down the security in time. We need to send a tech expert."

"It's your call Commander," Jacob said pointedly, "Who do you want to send down the shaft?"

Shepard thought for a moment, her eyes drifted over her squad, "Tali. I want Tali in the shaft."

Before Tali could speak Quaero stepped forward, "No, Shepard. I want Tali with you. I'll go into the shaft."

"Quaero…" Shepard began.

"No listen Shepard, I don't want Tali in too much danger! She'll be safest with you. I'm a Quarian and I'm not bad with tech. I'll go down the shaft."

Shepard sighed, "Alright. Quaero you're going down the shaft."

He nodded. Tali looked up at him surprised, but she remained silent.

"Alright the rest of us will break into two teams and fight our way down each passage. That should distract them from what you're doing."

Miranda stepped up next to Shepard, "I'll lead the second fire team Shepard. We'll meet up with you on the other side of the doors."

Jack snarled at her, "Not so fast, Cheerleader. Nobody wants to take orders from you."

Garrus shook his head in agreement, drawing a snicker from Quaero.

Miranda glared at them, "This isn't a damn popularity contest! Lives are at stake! Shepard, you need somebody who can command loyalty, through experience."

Shepard nodded and instantly looked over at Garrus, "Garrus. You're up."

Garrus just nodded confidently once.

Miranda huffed, but shrugged and said, "Well, at least he knows what he's doing."

Shepard paced back and forth at the head of the table, "I don't know what we're going to find in there, but I won't lie to you. It's not going to be easy. We've lost good people. We may lose more.

"We don't know how many the Collectors have stolen. Thousands, hundreds of thousands. It's not important. What matters is this: Not one more. That's what we can do, here, today. It ends with us."

* * *

><p><strong>45 Minutes Later, at the End of the Ventilation Shaft in the Collector Base…<strong>

Quaero stood with his back against the final valve, with his shotgun ready and loaded. He watched as Shepard quickly sprinted up to the controls and released the door.

Tali, Mordin, Legion, and Thane followed Shepard quickly toward the door that Quaero had to open. Scores of Collectors pursued them. Quaero had to move fast.

Quaero rolled out of the ventilation shaft and into the doorway junction. The one on his left, closest to him was the one Shepard and her team were behind. The one across the room, the one with two Collector drones blocking his path, was the one with Garrus's team behind it.

Quaero used a biotic charge and rammed into one of the Collector Drones. He quickly raised his shotgun and blasted the upper right section of the other's torso away. The other one had fallen to the ground. Quaero wasted no time and hopped over the down Collector, the heel of his foot crushing its head as he landed and ran to the door with Garrus's team waiting.

Garrus's voice crackled in on his communicator, "Quaero come in! We need the door open now! Seeker swarms inbound!"

Quaero didn't even respond as he busily typed at the door controls. The large doors parted just enough to let in all the crew members, before Quaero closed it again. Garrus caught his breath as did his squad of Jack, Samara, Jacob, Miranda, and Grunt.

Shepard's voice came in over the communicator now, gunfire was a constant background noise, "Quaero we're pinned down we need the door open now!"

Quaero ran to the door control and opened it to let in Shepard and her squad. Thane and Mordin ran in first, followed by Legion, then Tali and Shepard. The squads combined their fire and pinned the Collectors down as Quaero attempted to shut the door.

"Come on you bosh' tet!" Quaero roared angrily as the door control refused to cooperate, "The door is jammed!"

Quaero stood from the door control and grabbed the edges of one door, while Grunt grabbed the other. Together they tried to push the doors together.

Just before the doors gave away and closed, a rocket fired from a Collector flew in between the doors and collided with Quaero's head that just poked out between the gap in the doors.

The force of the explosion made everyone standing near the door fly backwards, except for Grunt who stood in between the gap and muscled the doors completely shut.

Quaero lay motionless on the ground a few feet away, the left side of his metal over-mask was blackened and scorched with massive damage from shrapnel gouged into it.

Tali ran up to him and turned him onto his back. Tears rolled down her face. There was no medical stasis program in his new armor. No coming back from this one…

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: I really didn't want to write this chapter. I am really good at procrastinating so it was tough to complete this. Anyway thanks for reading. Please review and tell me what you think.<strong>

**Oh and I just found this out. There's going to be a character, a squad member, named… get this… James Vega in Mass Effect 3! WTF? It's probably just a coincidence, but still! This is a major in congruity in my story, how can Vega be both a Spanish Human name and a Quarian name! DAMMIT! Whatever, I like the name and I'm keeping it.**

**Oh yeah, and I know that it takes like three seconds to go through the Omega Four to the Collector Homeworld, but i need the extra time frame in my story. And it doesn't make scientific sense. The distance between those two points is probably like hundreds of billions of lightyears! That means the Normandy has to be going at hundreds of billions of times faster than the speed of light! I know it's FTL but really? That fast? I'm just trying to be realistic here...**


	24. Chapter 24: The Giant Savior

**Mass Effect: Search for the Fallen Star**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect franchise or any characters or property that BioWare has staked claim upon. However I do own copies of the games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.**

**Ch. 24: The Giant Savior**

Tali lay across Quaero's torso, sobbing uncontrollably, "Stupid! Stupid! Dammit! Why? Why didn't he let me go! I could have closed it!"

"Tali," Shepard said, "We can't do this now, we have to move on."

"Y-you're right," Tali said quietly as she pulled away from Quaero.

The squad turned away as a whole and started to walk toward the exit. Tali stood and moved to join them.

A small groan came from Quaero and Tali fell back to her knees again. Quaero lifted a hand to his head and sat up slowly.

"Quaero! You're okay?" Tali gasped in relief.

"Guess so," Quaero mumbled, "My shields must've taken most of the blast. How's the damage?"

"We'll," Tali paused, "Let's just say that it's good that you're wearing a mask."

Quaero stared at her for a second before shrugging and rising to his feet. A few squad members came and patted him on the shoulder and back.

Miranda's voice was heard around the corner, "Shepard! You need to see this."

The squad followed the sound of her voice into a massive room open room. Its walls were lined with pods and tubes and a few hexagonal transportation platforms hovered around the room.

Miranda was standing next to the pod closest to the entrance, inside was a woman with medium length brown hair that Quaero didn't recognize.

"Must be one of the abducted colonists," Miranda commented as Shepard stepped closer.

Shepard ran a hand over the front to clear some condensation that was building.

Tali walked over to another grouping of pods, one of which contained Kelly, "There's more over here."

Suddenly gas started to vent into the pod with the colonist inside. The colonist's eyes opened suddenly and she started to writhe in the pod in agony.

"My God!" Shepard exclaimed in terror, "She's still alive!"

The colonist's skin appeared to be melting before their eyes. She banged on the inside and screamed in pain. Shepard looked around frantically for a release switch to open the pod, but when she found none, she tried to muscle it open.

The woman in the pod began coughing up blood as her face began to peel away. She collapsed and Shepard stepped away.

Shepard turned to the others and said as she ran to another pod, "Quick! Get them out of there!"

Shepard stood waiting to catch a person inside a pod while Mordin bashed the glass with his SMG. Quaero pulled at the pod door containing Ken and Tali did the same for the one containing Kelly.

The squad worked frantically as they pulled open each pod, each one containing a kidnapped Normandy crewmember. The tension eased once the last pod, containing Chakwas was opened.

Shepard pulled her out and said concerned, "Dr. Chakwas? Are you okay?"

Quaero helped Gabby to her feet as she regained her composure. She looked around at the scene and spotted Quaero in front of her. She hugged him tightly and cried a little. Quaero patted her on the back comfortingly then redirected her to Ken who stood scowling a few feet away. Ken was surprised but didn't object.

Chakwas was the first to speak, "Shepard… You… You came for us…"

Shepard helped Chakwas to her feet and said, "No one gets left behind."

The crew gathered around Shepard. Surprisingly only Hadley and Mathews were missing from the group.

Kelly said, "Thank God you got here in time. A few more seconds and… I don't even want to think about it…"

Chakwas spoke again, rather shakily, "The colonists were… processed. Those little robots, they—melted their bodies into a grey liquid and pumped it through those tubes."

Shepard looked around at the scores of tubes that littered the walls, "Why are they doing this? What are they doing with our genetic material?

Chakwas shrugged, "I don't know. I'm just glad you got here before it happened to us."

"So are we," Miranda said taking charge, "But we still have a job to do. We've done well so far, let's hope we can finish the job."

Shepard raised a hand to her ear, "Joker? Can you get a fix on out position?"

Joker's voice came in rather clearly on their communicators, "_Roger that Commander. All those tubes lead into the main control room right above you. The route is blocked by a security door, but there's another route that runs parallel to the one you're in."_

EDI's voice interjected, _"I cannot recommend that. Thermal emissions suggest the chamber is overrun with seeker swarms. Mordin's countermeasure cannot protect you against so many at once."_

Shepard thought for a second, "What about biotics? Could we create a biotic field to prevent them from getting near us?"

Samara spoke up, "Yes… I think it may be possible. I wouldn't be able to protect everybody at once, but we might be able to get a small team through if they stayed close."

"I could do it too," Miranda said scornfully, "In theory any biotic could handle it. Shepard, who do you want to maintain the field?"

Shepard's eyes drifted over her squad, "Jack and I will take a small team through the seeker swarms. The rest of you will go through the main passage and cause a diversion so that we can slip by. We'll open the security doors for you."

"Who do you want to lead the diversion team?" Miranda asked hopefully.

"Garrus. You'll lead."

"I'll keep the defenders busy," Garrus responded confidently, "You slip around back."

"What about me and the rest of the crew Shepard?" Chakwas asked, "We're in no shape to fight."

"_Commander?"_ Joker's voice said through their communicators, _"We have enough systems online to do a pickup but we need to land back from your position."_

"We can't afford to go back Shepard! Not now!" Miranda argued disdainfully.

Shepard thought for a moment and looked over her crew's weakened and hopeful expressions, "You'll never make it without help. I'll send someone with you."

Shepard looked around her team, "Grunt you're going to go escort the crew back to the Normandy."

Grunt typed into his omni-tool, "Joker, send me the location of the landing zone. We'll meet you there."

Quaero jumped in, "I think I can help with that. Before we left I added a remote flight system into the Kodiak. It won't be able to hold everybody, but I can call it here and Grunt can cover your escape with the turret."

Grunt looked over at Quaero wide eyed at the mention of the turret, Shepard said, "Do it."

Quaero opened his omni-tool and typed into it, simultaneously saying, "EDI open the Shuttle Hanger door, I'm bringing the Kodiak to my position."

Not too long later the Kodiak flew into sight, and landed near their position. The door opened and the turret folded out of the floor, waiting for an operator. Grunt immediately stepped inside and grasped the grips tightly.

"Anybody who can't walk well will, come with me in the Kodiak," Grunt said impatiently.

Gabby and Hawthorne stepped into the Kodiak and strapped themselves in.

Quaero opened his omni-tool again and typed into it and said as he worked, "EDI, the flight controls are yours. Take good care of them."

The Kodiak lifted off the ground and hovered not far off the ground, waiting for the rest of the crew to start moving.

Shepard signaled the squad to form up, "We've all got our assignments. Let's move out!"

* * *

><p><strong>A Few Minutes Later…<strong>

Quaero vaulted over a low lying wall and ducked behind it just as a torrent of Collector assault rifle fire flew over him. Quaero laid down covering fire on the Collectors while the rest of the team moved closer.

Shepard had taken Tali and Thane with her when she and Samara went down into the seeker swarm lair. Quaero was quite grateful for this, because he knew Tali would be safest with Shepard.

Garrus slid into cover next to Quaero, followed by Legion and Mordin. The rest of the squad was pinned down a few yards back.

"Quaero, Legion, Mordin! We need to advance! The Collectors have the high ground so we don't have any sniping points! We'll need to lay down heavy suppressing fire while the rest of the squad flanks the Collectors on either side!" Garrus shouted over the constant roar of battle, "Legion! You and I will lay down light cover fire to begin with our assault rifles! Quaero! You use your biotics on whatever you see in front of you once the Collector gun fire lightens up! Then use your Revenant to put them behind their cover! Mordin! I want you using precision based shots from your Canifex to take out any remaining Collectors! Everybody got that!"

The group nodded and Garrus raised a hand to the side of his head, "Jacob! You reading me?"

Jacob's voice crackled in over the communicator, _"What's the plan. Garrus?"_

"Forward assault squad will provide heavy suppressing fire! I want you to split your group into two squads to flank the Collectors on either side! After they're behind cover, advance fast! Got me?"

"_Roger Garrus!"_

Garrus held up his hand. 3. He curled his thumb in. 2. Lowered his second finger. 1. Garrus clenched his hand into a fist and him and Legion rose out of cover, firing with deadly accuracy with their Vindicator assault rifles. After a short time the previously heavy assault rifle fire coming from the Collectors lightened and Quaero rose out of his cover with both his arms raised.

Quaero didn't even look for targets. He just used all the strength he could afford and launched two massively powerful Shockwave blasts toward the Collectors. The Shockwaves sent many Collectors flying into walls and the ceiling. Quaero retrieved his Revenant from his back and fired his bullet storm at the few Collectors still standing.

The Collectors dropped behind their cover to avoid being shot. Mordin rose up with his Canifex raised. He aimed precisely and fire into the rocky cover that the Collectors hid behind. The powerful blasts from the pistol flew straight through their cover and into their large heads. A few tried to rise up and return fire but Mordin immediately shot them down.

On either side of them, the remaining squad quickly advanced. Jack and Miranda on the left and Jacob alone on the right. They passed the Collector's cover and turned around with their weapons raised. Miranda and Jacob used their fast firing SMGs to mow down the unsuspecting Collectors, while Jack mixed blasting them with her shotgun and ripping them apart with warps.

Heavy silence fell in the passage. The large squad advanced together toward the large double doors that marked the end of the passage.

The group gathered around at the door, Garrus surveyed the passage quickly, "Alright here's the plan. Looks like we're a little ahead of schedule. We'll need to hold out position here until Shepard can open the doors. Quaero, I need your help with this one."

Quaero nodded and stepped forward, Garrus continued, "You led the defense of your compound from large scale pirate attacks for several years on Navis correct?"

Quaero nodded again, Garrus gave the Turian equivalent of a smile and continued, "Good. I'm not as good with defense so I'll let you take charge of the defense here. I'll defer to you now."

Quaero nodded again and looked around the passage, after a brief pause he said, "Okay here's the defense plan. Garrus and Legion I want you up on those low platforms providing sniper and accurate assault rifle cover. You'll have the high ground so the Collectors will be very vulnerable. If they get too close, switch to assault rifles. Until then use your snipers. Legion pick heavily armored targets only, I don't want to waste the power of that sniper. Garrus focus on the drones.

"Mordin and Miranda you two will be here nearest to the doors. I want both of you using your SMGs. Mordin use an Incinerate as often as possible, I want your focus for that on heavily armored targets like scions. Miranda I want you to cover our heads. Collectors may fly in from above. If that happens use a biotic slam or throw. Otherwise lay down light cover fire from a distance, accuracy won't matter.

"Jacob and Jack will be up front. Both of you, I want you two to use your shotguns and stay in cover unless they get too close. Jack, use your biotics to throw them to the ground. Jacob, like Miranda I want you to watch for incoming drones from above and use a throw to get them out of there. I'll be somewhere in the middle providing heavy suppressing fire for all of you. Everyone understand?"

"Roger that."

"_Affirmative."_

"Understood."

"Whatever."

"Yes."

"Yes, Quaero."

"Good, everyone to your positions. Garrus, first kill is yours. Take the shot whenever you need to. Everyone else will remain hidden until Garrus takes the shot."

* * *

><p><strong>Moments Later…<strong>

Quaero heard the door on the far side of the room open.

Legion's voice came in over the communicator, _"Collectors entering passage. Multiple hostiles. Five scions. 30 Collectors. Lining up shot with scion."_

"Garrus do you have a shot?" Quaero mumbled into his communicator.

"Got one. Waiting for them to get a little closer…"

Quaero waited for what felt like days, the silence in the room was unbearable it was broken suddenly by a very loud gunshot. Another followed, this one twice as loud. Quaero rose out of cover and fired at the large group of Collectors grouped together. One lay on the ground with a round through its eye. One scion had an extremely massive hole in it from Legion's sniper shot.

A multitude of wild bullets flew over Quaero's head from behind, followed by a bright red flaming orb. The orb connected with the damaged scion, blowing it into pieces.

Quaero dropped down behind cover again and signaled to Jack. She rose out of cover and launched a biotic shockwave into the tightly grouped squad of Collectors. They were all sent to the ground. The scions finally reacted and fired all their shockwave cannons simultaneously at the defenders. The shots went past them harmlessly and one scion's upper half exploded off of it from another shot by Legion.

Garrus picked the prone Collectors off one by one. Three Collectors descended from above, hovering down slowly with their wings. One flew into the ground faster than the eye could see. Its mangled body twitched and jerked on the ground. Another was hit by a flying blue projectile that launched from Jacob. It caused the Collector to fly away and smash into a distant wall. The third landed unharmed and returned fire. But was quickly sniped by Garrus.

Another scion exploded from an Incinerate blast and a few more Collectors who had just regained their standing position were gunned down by Quaero. One advanced quickly, firing wildly in all directions. Jacob stuck his foot out from behind his cover causing the Collector to trip and fall on his face. Jack blasted its head away with her shotgun and warped another in half.

A scion's lower half disappeared in a burst of blue fluid and it fell to the ground. A second equally powerful shot tore it in half. The remaining Collectors made a mad dash for cover, running in all directions. The last scion stood in its original position. Quaero aimed at it and used an accurate torrent armor piercing rounds to tear it in half. The scion made an attempt to drag itself away but was blown into pieces by another Incinerate.

The door on the far side of the room opened again and scores of Collectors rushed in. At the same time, numerous Collectors flew in from above, a few flew off after being biotically thrown but the rest landed safely. The Collectors slowly advanced toward the defender's position, many died but the horde remained strong.

"Jack! Jacob fall back to the door! We'll cover you!"

Jack and Jacob sprinted for the back of the room, stumbling whenever a shot would hit their kinetic barriers. They made it safely however and hid behind cover with Miranda and Mordin. Quaero walked back slowly and fired constantly at the approaching Collectors.

"Garrus!" Quaero roared as he retreated to the door, "Try and contact Shepard!"

Quaero reached the door and covered Garrus and Legion as the dropped down and hid behind cover.

"Shepard! Do you read?"

No response.

"Shepard, do you copy? Come on, Shepard! Where are you?"

A short silence then, _"I copy. What's your position?"_

"We're pinned down at the door! Taking heavy fire!"

"_We're coming! Hold on!"_

After a short wait the door slid open behind them. The squad backed into the room firing at the advancing Collectors. Once everyone was inside, the doors slid closed and everyone let out a sigh of relief. Garrus looked like he had been injured but was just catching his breath.

"Nice work Garrus," Shepard said impressed, "You kept everyone alive."

Garrus nodded, "Thanks, Shepard. But I can't take all the credit. Quaero lead the defense of the door and his plan was defense plan was ingenious if I do say so myself."

Shepard looked back at Quaero who was checking to see if Mordin, who had received a small graze from a shot, was okay. Shepard looked back at Garrus and nodded. She signaled her team to form up, then headed toward the exit.

The group entered a large very open room. They were standing on a small wide docking platform, where two of the hexagonal Collector platforms were stationed. There was a long low lying wall that could be very useful later, in the middle of the docking station.

Shepard raised a hand to her ear, "Joker? Are you at the rendezvous point?"

Joker's voice crackled in on the communicator, _"I'm here, Commander. Chakwas and the rest of the crew just showed up."_

"_Grunt's group just arrived, Shepard," EDI said, "No casualties."_

"Excellent," Miranda said, "No let's make it count. EDI, what's our next step?"

"_There should be some nearby platforms that will take you to the main control console. From there you can overload the system and destroy the base."_

"Commander?" Joker said, "You have a problem! Hostiles massing just outside the door. Won't be long until they bust through."

Shepard hopped up onto one hexagonal platform and faced her squad gathered around her, "We need to finish this before they get through."

Miranda stepped forward and said, "Pick a team to go with you, and leave the others here to defend this position. That should buy you some time."

Shepard thought for a little, "I'll take Tali and Miranda with me."

Miranda immediately hopped up onto the platform and took a position on Shepard's right. Tali moved to pull herself up, but Quaero grabbed her waist and lifted her onto the platform.

Once on it, Tali leaned over to Quaero, "Whatever happens? I'll always love you, Quaero."

"I love you too Tali. Keelah se' lai."

Tali took a few steps back and stood next to Shepard, she said, "I am ready, Shepard."

"Ready," Miranda said, "Anything to say before we do this?"

Shepard thought for a second then said, "The Collectors. The Reapers. They aren't a threat to us. They're a threat to everything—everyone. Those are the lives we're fighting for. That's the scale. I don't know if they can feel fear, but we're damned sure going to give them the opportunity. Hit them hard. One way or another, it ends here!"

"We'll do our best," Quaero said, "Good luck, Shepard. Keelah se' lai."

The platform Shepard stood on lifted away from the docking platform. Quaero turned around and faced the squad.

Garrus stepped up next to him and asked, "So, what's the defense plan?"

Quaero rubbed his hands together maniacally, "Oh I have a plan. It's infallible!"

"Well lay it on us!" Jack said impatiently.

"First things first," Quaero said typing into his omni-tool, "EDI, how long until the Collectors bust through the door?"

"_I cannot be sure, but I may be able to delay them for up to 10 minutes," _EDI responded.

"Excellent! Okay, here's what we're going to do. Garrus and Legion, you have a very important job. You two are going to take that other platform and fly up to get a nice and high vantage point on the docking platform. You'll use your snipers and take out any high profile targets like scions from the picture, and you'll watch out backs. If any other platforms with Collectors come to try and stop you, you guys can watch each other's backs. Don't worry, when the Normandy comes to pick us up, I'll have Grunt pick you guys up in the Kodiak.

"Thane, you have a very special job. You're going to climb up that wall to that little rocky overhang. I want you to snipe from up there. The Collectors probably won't spot you up there. Also you'll be in charge of activating out countermeasures, which I'll get to in a minute.

"Samara, you'll be with me providing overall heavy assault rifle support and biotic attacks. Our focus will be on the drones, we'll gun em down as they enter. We're going to be drawing the attention from the rest of the squad. We'll be right here in the middle of this low wall.

"Mordin you going to provide tech attack support. I want you off to the side over here, away from the center of focus for the Collectors. I want you to draw as little attention to yourself as possible and use your tech attacks as often as possible. In between recharge times for you tech attacks, use your Canifex sparingly and use only precise shots.

"Jacob and Jack, you two will be on either end of this long low wall. If a Collector attempts to flank us, I want you to shoot em dead with your shotguns. Also keep an eye on the edges of the docking platform, I don't want any husks attacking us from behind.

"Now as for countermeasures, I only have a few grenades. But I can attach them to the ceiling in front of the door and drop the ceiling on their heads if necessary. This could slow them down or give them cover to use, we'll have to see. But the detonator will go to Thane."

Quaero handed his grenade detonator to Thane and pulled out three disk grenades. He carefully aimed them and threw them onto the high ceiling above the door. Thane quickly pocketed the detonator and ran toward the wall he needed to climb. He deftly climbed the wall and reached the overhang in no time at all.

Legion and Garrus hopped up onto the other hexagonal platform and rode it a rather long distance away from the docking platform.

It hovered there and Quaero heard Garrus say over the communicator, "Nice idea, Quaero. We have the perfect sniping position from here. Problem is it's a little exposed. We may have some trouble with other Collector platforms."

"I'm sure Shepard is keeping most of them busy," Quaero said into his communicator, "If any come, use your assault rifles. You guys can handle this, I'm sure."

Quaero turned to the remaining four people: Mordin, Samara, Jacob and Jack.

"Okay," Quaero said as he drew his Revenant, "Everybody to your positions. Samara, with me."

* * *

><p><strong>25 Minutes Later…<strong>

Quaero gritted his teeth and fired another long torrent from his Revenant. So far the defense had gone relatively well, except that Mordin and Jacob had been injured. Medi-gel had fixed that up pretty well however and they were still combat-able.

The Collectors were relentless. The flow of enemies never ceased as Quaero and his team continued to gun them down. Garrus and Legion had been attacked by two platforms so far, but they had been able to defend themselves as planned.

As Quaero expected, scions and husks soon joined the fight, but were no match for the combined force from the team.

The major problem now was thermal clips. Quaero was on his last two that he usually saved for his shotgun. Mordin had to give all of his to Jacob, Samara and Jack. Thane, Legion, and Garrus however had no way of getting more so they would be unable to assist for much longer.

"Quaero!" Garrus's voice came in on his communicator, "Legion and I are out of thermal clips! Orders?"

His worst fear realized, Quaero thought fast, "Come back here Garrus. You're defenseless up there."

"Understood."

Quaero turned around and watched as the platform with Garrus and Legion flew in and docked at the station. Garrus and Legion quickly ran off and joined Quaero behind the long low lying wall.

"What's the plan?" Garrus asked as he focused on keeping his head low.

"Use our countermeasures and pray that they slow down the Collectors!" Quaero yelled over the screams of Collectors.

"Thane!" Quaero yelled into his communicator, "Detonate the grenades!"

After a short pause explosions from above rocked the docking cradle. Huge chucks of the ceiling fell down upon the Collectors. The rocks blocked most of the door, but a few thin paths remained.

"Good," Quaero said satisfied with the result, "That'll funnel em out."

"Quaero!" Quaero heard Joker say on his communicator, "We're coming to pick you up! Shepard has completed the mission!"

"Roger, Joker. Get us out of here!"

After a short wait the Normandy appeared close to the edge of the docking platform, the door opened and waited for passengers to enter. Suddenly heavy assault rifle fire flew at them and struck their shields. The squad ducked and looked back at the door.

Collectors hopped over the large rocks, using their wings to propel themselves higher. They landed and kept the team in cover. Without some suppressing fire the team wouldn't be able to make it to the Normandy without being gunned down.

The Kodiak shuttle appeared over the Normandy with its door opened and its turret primed. Grunt stepped up to it and spun the barrels of the Dragon's Breath turret.

High explosive rounds flew from the barrels of the turret and made contact with the Collectors. The rocks blocking the door were torn apart from the explosions along with the Collectors.

The squad made a break for the Normandy, Quaero made sure all of the squad members were inside before getting inside himself. Quaero shut the door and ran into the cockpit of the Normandy.

"Joker! Where's Shepard?"

"She's just around here—"

Joker was interrupted as a massive explosion rocked the entire Collector Base.

"What the hell was that?" Joker said slowing the Normandy down.

"_Shepard has just shot and killed the Reaper with the M-920 Cain. The explosion has destroyed that entire room. I cannot determine if Shepard and her team survived," _EDI said.

"How long until the core detonates?" Quaero asked angrily.

"_Approximately one and a half minutes."_

"We wait until the last possible second before we leave. I'm not leaving unless I know that they're dead. Do you understand me?" Quaero growled at EDI.

"_I understand, Quaero."_

"Good. Joker try and contact Shepard."

Joker nodded and held a hand to his ear, "Commander come in. Shepard come in."

No response.

"Shepard do you copy? Do you copy? Commander? Come on, Shepard, don't leave me hanging. Do you copy?"

Shepard's voice crackled through the terminal, "I'm here, Joker. Did the ground team make it?"

"Oh thank God," Joker said without the communicator on, he turned it back on and said, "All survivors on board. We're just waiting for you."

"EDI are you locked on their signal?" Joker said standing and picking up an Avenger assault rifle.

"Yes, Jeff."

"The helm is yours, bring us to them!" Joker said as he ran to the airlock with Quaero.

The Normandy rose over a tall cliff covered with debris. It rotated and lined up its airlock door with two platforms that jutted out from the cliff. Quaero stood behind the airlock door with Joker.

Joker punched in the door code and it slid open to reveal Tali and Miranda climbing up the debris nearby and Shepard much farther away being closely pursued by Collectors and seeker swarms. Joker sprayed some assault rifle fire at the Collectors while Quaero hopped out onto the platforms

Quaero helped Miranda into the Normandy and embraced Tali briefly before throwing her inside too. He ran down the platforms and onto the rocky ground. He used his biotics to push away a seeker swarm that was flying quickly at Shepard.

A large metal panel fell from the ceiling and struck the platforms that formed the bridge between Quaero and Shepard and the Normandy. Quaero cursed and turned to cover Shepard. He drew his Revenant and fired at the pursuing Collectors. Shepard ran closer and closer, sprinting and vaulting over the debris up toward the Normandy.

Shepard ran past Quaero at full speed and leaped over the long jump toward the Normandy. She just barely made the jump and rammed into the edge of the Normandy. The wind was knocked out of her lungs but she managed to scramble inside with the help of Tali and Miranda.

"Quaero!" Tali screamed, "Come on! Jump!"

"I can't make the jump!" Quaero roared back, "There's not enough time! Just leave!"

Before Tali could scream back Shepard roared at him, "GodFuckingDammit Quaero this is not the time to be a damned hero! We have 20 seconds until this place explodes! Get your goddamn Quarian ass in here!"

Quaero glanced over his shoulder and ran the short distance toward the edge of the cliff. Quaero used a biotic charge and flew into the Normandy, ramming into the wall on the other side of the doorway. Quaero slumped to the ground and clutched at his shoulder which had become dislocated from the charge.

Joker closed the airlock door and ran into the cockpit of the Normandy, EDI said, "10 seconds until detonation!"

Joker threw the acceleration forward and pushed his controls forward. The Normandy sped forward dodging falling debris. The exit was just in sight.

"5 seconds until detonation!"

The Normandy was still far from the exit.

"4."

Joker gritted his teeth pushed as hard as he could on the throttle.

"3."

Shepard ran into the cockpit.

"2."

The Normandy cleared the exit of the base.

"1."

The Normandy was just outside of the initial concussion wave from the explosion. The explosive wave chased after the Normandy as it tried to escape certain doom. Just as the concussion was about to reach the Normandy, Joker punched the FTL travel and they sped away.

"Yes!" Joker screamed in euphoric delight, "We did it! We fucking did it!"

Shepard sighed in relief and stepped away from the cockpit. She walked into the elevator and rode it down to the Shuttle Hanger.

**In the Shuttle Hanger…**

The entire crew, save for Joker stood around in the Shuttle Hanger. Shepard past each one, giving each an approving smile. Quaero and Tali sat next to each other on a large crate. Quaero's arm was in a sling, but his other was around Tali. Shepard smiled at the sight.

She walked over to the large hole in the hull of the ship that the oculus made.

After a short pause she said, "EDI, chart a course for the Citadel. We have some business to take care of."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: There you have it. He wasn't dead. AGAIN! God I need new ideas. And for that reason, I will wait to write a sequel to this. I am waiting for Mass Effect 3 to come out because why wouldn't I? How can some people write stories that take place in Mass Effect 3 if they don't know what happens exactly? Powers of precognition or time travel? I wish I could do that…<strong>

**To all of you: Thank you one million times for reading my story. To all of my reviewers: Thanks for being my NUMBER 1 fans through this whole thing. I'm glad you liked it.**

**Please read the next one when I comes out in April of next year. I know Mass Effect 3 comes out in March, but I need to play it a few times first. Sorry for you people who thought that there'd be more after this but there isn't for now. **

**To all the people who just can't wait for the sequel: Don't worry. I'm an active author. I have story ideas comin' out da wazoo. Whatever that means. I have ideas for… two more stories already, one is a prequel to this one. The other is one that has nothing to do with this, but is still Mass Effect, it'll be about… did you guess it? ME! Looking forward to it? I thought so…**

"**You're pretty good, kid…" Liquid Ocelot; Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.**

**Mockingbird79**

**What was that little quote you ask? Oh just one of my favorite quotes from a video game. If you wanna see my top three (All of which are from MGS 4) Check out my profile. See ya real soon!**


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